Second Time Around Year 2
by Dragonson
Summary: Harry returns to Hogwarts for his second year. After being given the chance to go back in time to save innocent lives he must go through school all over again. What will happen in his second year? Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling and I claim no credit for the Harry Potter Books.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

**Author's Note:** This is Harry's second year at Hogwarts. Before reading this story I suggest you read about Harry's first year in: Second Time Around.

Second Time Around: Year 2: Chapter 1: Harry's Birthday

The return to Privet Drive was as Harry had expected. Boring. Admittedly Dudley was scared of Harry and tried to avoid him whenever possible, a distinct improvement over previous years, but there was little for Harry to be happy about. He no longer had Sam, his pet snake, as she was preparing to raise a family at Hogwarts. He still had all the chores to do, not that he minded this so much as it gave him something to do. He also had homework to do but since it was fairly straightforward it didn't really pose too much of challenge.

The real problem was that he hadn't received any mail from anyone. Even though he had been allowed to let Hedwig out, the Dursleys refused to allow him to keep her in the house. He had decided to send her to Sirius for the holidays. Before leaving the train he had told Ron and Hermione that he'd had a vision about someone stealing his mail. That vision had now come true and he was unhappy. A week after the beginning of the holidays Harry heard a voice inside his pocket. It was Sirius calling him via the two way mirror.

"Hello Sirius," Harry said into the mirror.

"Hello, Harry. Arthur Weasley spoke to me earlier saying you have not replied to a letter his son Ron sent you. What's happening?" Sirius said.

"I haven't received any mail. It does fulfil another vision, though."

"You saw this would happen? Right, I'm starting an investigation. Interfering with someone else's mail is a serious crime, unless, of course, you have a permit to do so."

"Aurors can get these permits?"

"Only when the head of the DMLE says we can. It is obviously strictly regulated. An enquiry into mail tampering is relatively straight-forward, however. All going well we will identify and charge the thief in a week or two. I'll keep you informed."

"Thank you, Sirius. How are you, anyway?"

"I'm good. Kreacher was asking when he can see you again. You should summon him and give him something to do."

"A house elf in a muggle house. Probably not a good idea, although it would scare the Dursleys."

"How are they treating you?"

"Better than usual. I think you scared them at King's Cross."

"Only too willing to help you out, Harry. Well, bye for now. I'll speak to you as soon as I know something," said Sirius.

"Bye," Harry said as the mirror went blank.

Two days later Sirius again called Harry.

"Hello Sirius. What's up?" Harry asked.

"We found out who was stealing your mail. Turns out it a house elf named Dobby. He works for the Malfoys," replied Sirius.

"So the Malfoys ordered their elf to steal my mail," Harry pretended to be angry.

"That's what we thought but it turns out Lucius and Narcissa didn't know Dobby was doing it. Draco was surprisingly angry. Harry, I didn't know you and Draco were friends?"

"I didn't know that either," Harry replied honestly. "We shook hands when we first met but other than that we've hardly spoken all year."

"Huh? Well, the Malfoys are going to punish the elf themselves and will forward all the mail tomorrow, along with an apology. Looks like they're not so bad after all. Keep in touch, Harry."

"Sirius, is there any way to ensure Dobby isn't punished too harshly? I daresay he did what he thought was best."

"I really cannot say. I could suggest they go easy on him but I doubt it'll make any difference."

"At least try, anyway. Bye Sirius."

"Bye, Harry," and the mirror went blank.

The remainder of July passed quietly. Things settled down into a routine that, although depressing at times, was at least familiar. On the morning of Harry's birthday, which as usual the Dursleys ignored, he went down to the kitchen intending to remind them Sirius would be picking him up later that day.

"Start breakfast," snapped Petunia before he could speak. "Your uncle and I are hosting an important dinner this evening so you need to finish your chores early."

"Actually today is my birthday and, therefore, Sirius will be arriving shortly to collect me. Once everyone has had breakfast I will be returning to my room to tidy up then I will be leaving. I guess Dudley will have to do all the chores today," Harry said before starting breakfast.

"He's coming today?" Petunia asked.

"Yep, he told me he would be here about 11 o'clock." Sirius had contacted Harry via the two way mirror the day before to confirm the time.

Petunia stood glaring at him before finally saying, "Get breakfast ready then. And get rid of all your rubbish. Anything left in that room goes to the dump."

After breakfast Harry cleaned the room. He put everything he owned into his trunk so he could take it all to Grimmauld Place with him. From now on, even though he still had to live with the Dursley's, he would consider Grimmauld Place to be his home.

Harry heard the growl of Sirius' motorbike just before 11 o'clock. Immediately he began dragging his trunk down the stairs. Sirius rang the doorbell but nobody else bothered to open it so Harry had to do it himself.

"Come in, Sirius," He said.

"All set to go, Harry?" Sirius asked.

"Yep. I'll say goodbye and we can leave. Uncle Vernon, aunt Petunia," Harry called.

"What?" growled uncle Vernon.

"Sirius is here so I'll be off then."

"Fine, go," Vernon said.

With that Sirius helped Harry load his trunk into side car before Harry climbed in and donned his helmet. They headed straight to a diner on the outskirts of Little Whinging where they had a light lunch before setting of for 12 Grimmauld Place, arriving mid-afternoon.

"You go unpack," Sirius said when they arrived, "I've got a quick job to do then, in about an hour's time, I will come get you. If you need anything ask Kreacher. I know he'll be eager to see you again."

"Right, see you in an hour's time," Harry said as he went up to his room.

One hour later Sirius knocked on Harry's bedroom door. "Everything's set. Time to go," he said.

"Go where?" asked Harry.

"You'll see," was all Sirius would say.

Curious, Harry followed Sirius down. Instead of going to the kitchen they went out the front door where Sirius took Harry's arm and disapparated. A moment later they arrived outside a strange looking house set in a small clearing. The house was several stories high and looked somewhat lopsided. On the roof were numerous chimneys. Harry recognised it straight away; it was the Burrow, the Weasleys' house. He followed Sirius up to the door.

"We decided that, instead of a small party at Grimmauld Place, we would have a larger party here at the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley insisted we come here."

"So this must be the Weasley's house, then?" Harry asked, already knowing the answer.

Sirius smiled. "We're here, Molly. Is everything ready?"

"Come in Sirius," Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen.

They entered the house. Mr. Weasley stood to welcome them while Mrs. Weasley set table for 9 people. Once the rest of the family joined them Mr. Weasley spoke. "Well, it's good to see you all here particularly our guests Sirius Black and Harry Potter. The reason we are here is because it's Harry's birthday. Happy twelfth birthday, Harry."

"Happy birthday," several people added.

Harry noticed the Weasley's only daughter, Ginny, seemed to be watching him. When she saw him watching her, however, she went bright red and looked away.

"Harry?" Sirius asked. "Do you want to open your presents now or after we get back to Grimmauld Place?"

"I'll open the ones from the Weasleys' now, I think," Harry replied.

His presents from the Weasleys' were mainly small, chocolate frogs, birthday cards including one Harry guessed must be from Ginny and some fudge. After eating Harry and Sirius prepared to leave, but not before inviting the Weasleys to come with them. Fred, George and Ron agreed to come, Ginny was told she had to stay while Percy said he was too busy. Harry knew "busy" meant writing to Penelope Clearwater but he decided not to mention it.

Fred, George and Ron used floo to get to Sirius' house while Harry and Sirius apparated there. Once inside Sirius told Kreacher to set the table for 8, saying there were three more guests still to come. Ron asked who else was coming and was told Hermione would be joining them. Sirius was going to bring her by side along apparation. The other two guests were to be Lupin and Tonks.

The reason Hermione would be coming was a personal matter. Harry, Sirius and Kreacher were going to explain to her about house elves. They hoped this would make her realise some important facts about their nature.

Tonks arrived soon after, announcing her arrival by tripping over an umbrella stand which set off Mrs. Blacks' portrait. The Weasleys were shocked to such language from a portrait or, indeed, from a lady as Tonks herself said a few choice words mainly over the fact she had gashed her shin. After a couple healing spells for Tonks and a stunning charm for the portrait things settled down as Sirius explained the reason for these events.

Sirius left to get Hermione just after Remus Lupin arrived. When he returned everybody went into the kitchen to eat. Harry had already given the Weasleys a quick tour of the house in Sirius' absence and they had generally been impressed with it, particularly after Harry called Kreacher whom the twins hadn't met before. Harry explained to them Kreacher was the reason why Hermione was coming. He, Sirius, Tonks and Lupin were going to try to explain why house elves worked for humans without pay.

In the kitchen everybody sat down to eat. After the meal Harry received some more presents and cards, which he thanked Sirius and Lupin for, before drinks, Butterbeer and tea for the children, fire whiskey and mead for the adults. After drinks the group sat in the kitchen talking, filling in time before the Weasleys had to return home. Hermione would be spending the night as her parents were out of town for the evening.

"Mr Lupin?" Harry asked. "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm an odd jobs man," Lupin replied. "If a job comes up I do it, otherwise I read books. And, please, call me Remus."

"You could call him Moony, you know. That's what we called him at school," Sirius added. Harry noticed when Sirius said Moony both Fred and George stiffened slightly, as if in surprise.

"If you're going to call me Moony we should call you Padfoot, Sirius. It's only fair," Remus said.

This time Harry wasn't the only one to notice the twins' reaction. Sirius saw it too.

"Fred, George?" Sirius asked. "Can I speak to you for a moment, please? Remus can you come, too?"

The group left the room leaving Tonks and the trio alone. Harry asked, "Tonks, how are you able to change your hair colour? Could you show Ron and Hermione?"

Tonks changed not only her hair but her face as well, turning into an older, grey haired woman before changing back to her usual appearance. "I am a Metamorph Magus," she explained. It is a natural talent that cannot be learned, you have to be born with it."

When the others returned Ron, in particular, was curious over what had happened. All the twins said was they had met two of their heroes and they had agreed to do something in return. Ron was still annoyed when he and the twins left for the burrow.


	2. Financial Matters

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

Second Time Around: Year 2: Chapter 2: Financial Matters

Once Sirius returned he, Remus and Harry sat down with Hermione. Their purpose was to try and explain why house elves were treated as they were and why they behaved like that. Quickly, though, they realised Hermione wasn't going to change her opinion any time soon. Harry remembered she could be quite stubborn at times and he soon realised this was one of these occasions. After half an hour of fruitless discussion Harry decided to go to bed. The others soon followed.

Next morning, when Harry got up he found Kreacher had made breakfast for him, Sirius and Remus, but not Hermione. He asked Kreacher why and was told that she had decided to make her own breakfast. Kreacher wanted to know if he should stop her but Harry said to leave her to it. He explained that, if she wanted to do it herself, she should be allowed to. He couldn't see any point to trying to stop her when she was so determined about something.

Hermione and Remus left after lunch. Remus was escorting her home and would then be doing some odd jobs for friends so would not be returning for a few days. This would give Harry and Sirius a chance to sort out the Horcrux hunt. They decided to visit Little Hangleton the following morning, giving them the whole day to locate and destroy the Horcrux there. They spent the rest of the day going over Harry's Gringotts account, the goblins having provided Harry with all relevant information at Christmas but, because of other things, this was the first chance they'd had to review it.

Apart from Harry himself, the only person with access to his Gringotts' account was Dumbledore. He held the title 'Account Manager' and it noted this would terminate upon Harry's 17th birthday. Also included in the statement was a list of transfers to a Petunia Dursley, described as Harry's legal guardian. Sirius explained that this was standard procedure when a child was orphaned in the wizarding world, although it was rare for the guardian to be a muggle. These transfers had occurred monthly until the 1st of September last year, when Harry started at Hogwarts. It noted future payments would be made on the 1st of July and the 1st of August until Harry's 17th birthday at which point they would stop automatically. Harry asked if it would be possible to change some of the records and Sirius told him they would need to visit Gringotts.

Sirius apparated him to Diagon Alley and they walked to the bank. The goblins at the door bowed as they entered as they always did. Harry approached the first free goblin.

"My name is Harry Potter. Could I speak to someone regarding my account please?" he asked the goblin.

"Do you have your key?" the goblin asked. Harry showed him the key. "One moment please."

Shortly after another goblin approached. "Mr. Potter?" he asked.

Yes, sir," Harry replied.

This way, please." Harry and Sirius followed the goblin into an adjacent office where they met another goblin. This goblin introduced himself as Sharpclaw.

"Mr. Potter please sit down," Sharpclaw said. "What is it you wish to discuss?"

Harry and Sirius sat down before Harry spoke. "I have a query about my account statements. I see that money is being paid into a muggle bank account in my aunt's name. I assume this money was for my upbringing?"

Sharpclaw examined the statement. "That is correct. As your legal guardian Petunia Dursley is entitled to a monthly stipend. That cannot be changed without the consent of your account manager, Albus Dumbledore."

"That brings up my second query," Harry said. "Can I make somebody else my account manager?"

"No. That change can only be made if the existing account manager dies or otherwise becomes incapable of performing their duty. The existing manager does have the authority to nominate someone to replace them if they no longer wish to have the responsibility but they must provide a suitable replacement."

Harry nodded before turning to Sirius. "So, unless Professor Dumbledore agrees I cannot stop the Dursleys getting that money, even though they are obviously spending it on Dudley and not me."

"It seems so, yes," Sirius replied. "Sharpclaw, can Harry add another name to the list of people with access to his account?"

Sharpclaw glared at Sirius before replying, "No. Only the account manager can do that."

"What if I no longer consider my existing account manager to be trustworthy?" Harry asked Sharpclaw.

"Do you consider Albus Dumbledore unfit to hold this position?"

"I don't entirely trust him. Barely 6 weeks ago he put me in a life threatening situation. Luckily I had already contacted Sirius and he, along with another auror, arrived in time. Also, my house elf was on hand in case anything happened; which it did," Harry explained to the goblin.

Sharpclaw thought things over before saying, "Is there any record in the auror office of this incident?"

Harry turned to Sirius. "Was that matter recorded?" Harry, of course, already knew there had been a formal investigation but wanted Sirius to tell Sharpclaw this.

"Yes there was," Sirius said. "I personally filed the report which Madam Bones herself reviewed. She was the one to start the inquiry into Dumbledore's actions."

"I see," said Sharpclaw. "That changes everything. If the Ministry of Magic is investigating Albus Dumbledore then you may indeed have a case for having him declared unfit for the title of Account Manager. You will need to bring a notarised copy of the report with you to this office along with notarised copies of all relevant documents. Once we have those we can strip Albus Dumbledore of his authority to access your accounts for a short time at least, although if he is subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing we will no choice but to reinstate him with a full apology."

"I can get the paperwork," Sirius said. "It's my report so I won't even need to go through Madam Bones although I will tell her of what is happening. I don't doubt she would back up my actions since she is the one investigating Dumbledore anyway."

Harry turned to Sharpclaw. "Thank-you for your help, Sharpclaw. I daresay we will be back next week to sort this matter out. Could we arrange another appointment for, say, next Wednesday?"

"Harry, we could come back tomorrow. All I need to do is go to the auror office and pick up the file," Sirius said.

"What about our other plans?" asked Harry.

"We can always go the next day. I think we should get this sorted out quickly," replied Sirius.

Harry decided this would be better so he asked Sharpclaw, "Would tomorrow be suitable?"

"If you wish to come back tomorrow that will be suitable. Come in at 11 o'clock. Are there any other matters you wish to discuss at this point?"

"No. Thank-you Sharpclaw," Harry said before they left the bank.

When they returned the next day they were met by Professor Dumbledore. "Good morning, Sirius; good morning Harry. I understand you wish to look into your Gringotts account. As I am your Account Manager I have decided to make it easy for you to make any changes, even if you wish to appoint a different Account Manager," Dumbledore said.

Harry was surprised by this and also suspicious. Why would Dumbledore willingly make a change that would not benefit him in any way while, at the same time, giving Sirius more authority?

"Professor Dumbledore, I assume Gringotts has been in touch with you?" Sirius enquired.

"Not Gringotts, no. Madam Bones informed me that you had retrieved a copy of the file the Ministry holds in relation to Professor Quirrell's death. From that I surmised you wanted to assess my ability to manage Harry's affairs. I have decided to withdraw from this aspect of Harry's life since he obviously has complete faith in you."

"I don't follow the logic of what you said but it does simplify matters," Sirius said. "Might as well get this sorted out quickly, then. I have to get back to work and Harry is off to visit friends for the rest of the day." Hermione had contacted them the previous evening and invited Harry over. Her mother was in London shopping and had offered to pick him up if he was interested. Harry had, of course, said yes and they had arranged to meet outside the Leaky Cauldron at 1 o'clock. Harry warned them he may be a bit late but now it appeared as though he would be early.

Their business at Gringotts was completed quickly and Harry and Sirius were able to head to the Leaky Cauldron where they had lunch. The Grangers arrived at a quarter to one and, after a brief chat, left with Harry.

When they arrived at the Granger's house Hermione showed Harry to the room he would be sleeping in that night. The Grangers lived in a modest three bedroomed house in a town about an hours' drive from London.

Hermione asked Harry what he had been doing so he explained. "Sirius has been helping me sort out my Gringotts account. That involved having him made my Account Manager instead of Dumbledore. That proved surprisingly easy. Dumbledore himself turned up and personally authorised the change."

"Why was Professor Dumbledore your Account Manager?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know for sure but my best guess is that he was responsible for my parents' wills and he was given financial control out of simplicity. Honestly he seemed happy to be relieved of the job."

"Do you have any other plans for your holidays?"

"Sirius and I are planning a day trip to get away from London and later I'll be going to the Weasleys' because Sirius will need to get back to work. He can't have much leave left available to him, after all."

"I got a letter from Ron asking me to come and stay as well. He said I could come for the last two weeks of the holidays. I guess you'll be there at that time, too."

"Looks like it, yeah," Harry said. After that the conversation drifted along before Hermione decided to walk to the local park and invited Harry to come along. Harry noticed that, although Hermione knew most of the local kids, she didn't seem very friendly with many of them. One of them thought Harry was her boyfriend but Hermione said they were just friends. Harry already had a girlfriend, she added, which Harry realised was a lie. He and Susan had broken up, a fact Hermione was well aware of.

The next morning they walked to the local shops. Harry realised Hermione had many older friends among the townsfolk and she seemed happiest when they were at the library or the bookshop. This did not surprise Harry, he already knew she was a bookworm.

That evening Harry had a light meal with the Grangers before Sirius arrived. The Grangers, Sirius and Harry had a short conversation before Sirius took Harry back to Grimmauld place. Their trip to Little Hangleton was scheduled for the next morning so they decided on an early night.

Next morning Harry got up early and went to the kitchen. Once there he summoned Kreacher.

"How may Kreacher help master?" the elf asked.

"I would like you to prepare two servings of bacon, eggs and toast, along with a pot of tea. Have it ready in ten minutes, please," Harry said. With that Kreacher popped away. Sirius arrived soon after.

"Morning, Harry. All set for our little hunt?" he said.

Harry nodded, "Kreacher is making breakfast, should be ready in about 10 minutes. Once we've eaten we should leave straight away. The sooner we start the better."

Sirius nodded in agreement. "The sooner the better."

**Author's Note: **Dumbledore still has many contacts in the Ministry, including in the Auror's Office. It would be easy for one of them to see what Sirius was doing and advise Dumbledore of what was happening.


	3. Horcrux Hunt

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

Second Time Around: Year 2: Chapter 3: Horcrux Hunt

After breakfast Harry and Sirius prepared to leave. They decided if they found a Horcrux they would bring it back to Grimmauld Place where it could be safely disposed of. Trying to destroy it while still in the tumbledown shack might attract the attention of muggles or even wizards who might be nearby. They told Kreacher to be ready for their return by midday. If they weren't back by then he was to come looking for them. They told him where they would be and advised him to bring a basilisk fang if he did follow them.

"Sirius?" Harry asked as they were about to leave.

"Yes, Harry?"

"Apparation. How does it work exactly?"

"It's a skill taught at 6th year. The Ministry strictly regulates apparation and they provide instructors to students at Hogwarts once they turn 17. Once you turn 17 you are eligible to sit a test and passing that test grants you an apparation licence which you are supposed to carry with you whenever you apparate. Although very few people actually carry their licence with them. The only time you need it is if you splinch yourself."

"What do you mean by splinch?"

"It means leaving random body parts behind. It really is extremely painful, splinching feels like you're being ripped apart and can be fatal if the damage isn't repaired quickly."

"If I tried to apparate now, would you be able to heal me if I splinched myself?"

"Probably not. It's no easy task and I believe that if the healing isn't done properly it can lead to permanent disability. Why do you ask?" Sirius was clearly becoming suspicious.

"If I can apparate myself I won't need people to take me along with them. It would make it easier for me to locate certain things, for example Horcruxes."

"True. Perhaps one day when Remus is here we could supervise your training together? Remus knows more about magic than I do."

Sirius apparated Harry to just outside of Little Hangleton along the lane to the Gaunt shack.

"Through these bushes, Harry." Sirius led Harry off the path into a small, overgrown clearing which contained the remains of a small building. Stepping carefully onto the front porch Sirius pulled open the door. The hinges collapsed and the door came away in his hand.

"This place really is falling apart," Harry said as Sirius lowered the door to the ground before entering the house. Harry followed him in. Inside was dark, although a fair bit of light came in through the holes in the roof where a number of tiles had fallen.

"So, where's this Horcrux?" Sirius asked, looking around the room.

"My vision said it was under the floor. We should try to find a loose floorboard," Harry said.

They began searching the floor, Harry on one side of the room, Sirius on the other. Eventually Harry found a loose board near the remains of a battered coal range. "Sirius, over here," he called.

"You've found it?" Sirius asked as he joined Harry.

"I think so. This floor board is loose and it is out of the way. It's not the sort of thing you'd notice unless you were looking for it."

Sirius carefully pried up the floorboard. Underneath was small, hollow space. Sifting through the dirt they found a small piece of wood and, under it, a ring. Sirius picked it up and examined it.

"I feel a temptation to put it on." he said.

"Don't," Harry replied. "Here, put it in this bag."

Sirius placed the ring in the paper bag Harry offered him and then placed the bag in his pocket. "Let's go," he said.

Harry took Sirius' arm and they returned to Grimmauld Place where Kreacher was waiting for them.

"We did it," Harry said when they entered the kitchen.

Sirius emptied the paper bag onto the table they had used to destroy locket several months earlier. "No sense in damaging another table," he said. "Who destroys this one?"

"Go ahead, Sirius. Remember what the locket tried to do, though, and the tiara before that."

Before Sirius stabbed it, however, he copied the inscription on the stone. It consisted of a triangle encompassing a circle and bisected by a vertical line. He explained that the symbol looked familiar and he was curious to know more about it. Once he finished he picked up a basilisk fang from their secret hiding place and quickly stabbed the stone in the ring before it had a chance to defend itself. As soon as the fang stuck it the ring screamed and a black cloud erupted from it. A thick tar like substance ate into the wooden table top eventually burning through and causing some of the tar to drip onto the carpet, where it smouldered until Sirius drenched it with water from his wand. Finally the stone, now with a deep crack in it, fell away from the metal of the ring.

"Must remember that," Harry said. "Stab it quickly before it is able to defend itself. Certainly makes it easier than taking careful aim first."

"It's all about speed," said Sirius. "After watching Kreacher destroy the locket I realised that the quicker you destroy a Horcrux the better. This proves I was on the right track."

The now destroyed Horcrux was returned to the paper bag and Harry placed the bag in his trunk. He would take it to Hogwarts with him when he returned and put it alongside the other two in the Room of Requirement.

The night before Harry was due to leave for the Weasleys Remus dropped in for a visit. Sirius told him about the plan to help Harry learn how to apparate but Remus refused to help. He said it was too dangerous and he wanted no part of it. However Tonks arrived soon after and, while Remus was our of the room, she told Harry and Sirius she would help. They waited until after Remus had gone home and then set up a clear space in the drawing room. A clean carpet was placed in the middle of the room.

"Right Harry," Sirius said. "Starting where you are concentrate on the clean carpet. That is your destination. To paraphrase apparation instructor Wilkie Twycross and his three 'D's; you need determination, deliberation and destination."

"Take your time, Harry," Tonks added. Trying to do it too fast is painful. Trust me."

Harry took that to mean she had splinched herself during her training. Harry knew how painful it was, he remembered what had happened to Ron while they, along with Hermione, had been on the run from the Ministry before he came back in time. Equally, he didn't want to do it perfectly first time. He was still trying to hide his true power for fear of what may happen if the truth came out.

His first attempt at apparation was a failure-a deliberate failure. Tonks and Sirius gave him plenty of encouragement as he readied himself for another attempt. On his fifth attempt he decided the time was right for a serious one. He focussed on the three 'D's and made his move. For a split second he felt as if he were being squeezed through an infinitely small opening. It was a sensation he was well familiar with thanks to all the people who had taken him by side along apparation and he remembered it from before. And then it was over; he was standing in the middle of the clean carpet space and there were no missing body parts.

"Well done, Harry," shouted Sirius.

"Brilliant," Tonks added. "That was one of the fastest successful mastering of apparation I've seen. Nearly everybody takes longer than that to get it right."

"That felt ok, but I obviously won't be able to use it when other people are around. Still, if I need it in the future I know I can do it. Thanks guys," Harry said to the others. "Next question. How do I become an animagus?"

Sirius laughed. "I think that's something we should leave for a while. Becoming an animagus is not something even you would be able master quickly. It is far harder than apparation and, in fact, only a tiny number of witches and wizards have ever succeed at it."

Harry agreed reluctantly but asked if there was anything he could do to help towards becoming one later on. Sirius promised to send him some books, but not just yet.

The following day the Weasley's arrived in an old Ford Anglia car. Harry knew straight away it was a muggle design that had been considerably enhanced magically. Mr Weasley drove back to Ottery St Catchpole, the village where they lived and Harry noticed he seemed to have a pretty good idea of how to drive, although he seemed to take a number of risks. This made Harry suspect the car had the same enchantments on it that Sirius had placed on his bike.

After settling in at the Burrow, Harry got out his homework. He had not been able to do much at the Dursley's but he had done a reasonable amount at Sirius'. Now the needed to finish it. Ron hadn't even started his homework, a fact which didn't surprise Harry at all. Harry reminded Ron that he needed to get organised rather than leaving everything to the last minute.

A few days' later Hogwarts letters arrived for all the Weasleys and Harry. The book list was the same as Harry remembered it to be; obviously Gilderoy Lockhart had been appointed as the new DADA teacher. The Weasleys were speculating who the new teacher would be. Most believed it was a witch, a fan of Lockhart's. For his part Harry said nothing. He was busily planning how to show Lockhart up as the fraud he was.

The Weasleys were going to Diagon Alley a week before the start of term. They arranged to meet Hermione there while Harry contacted Sirius. He knew this would be the day Lucius Malfoy slipped Tom Riddle's diary into Ginny's cauldron and he wanted Sirius there to catch Malfoy in the act. Harry remembered that Lockhart would be there signing books at the time so there would be literally hundreds of witnesses if things did get out of hand. Hagrid would be there, too. His presence alone should prevent any trouble.

The day arrived and Harry, along with the Weasleys used floo powder to reach Diagon Alley. This time he made sure to say the name correctly, he didn't want to end up in Knockturn Alley again.

After arriving at The Leaky Cauldron they stepped through into Diagon Alley where they met Hermione and her parents. Sirius joined them almost immediately.

"Hermione, over here," Harry called. Hermione led her parents over.

"Mum, Dad, this is Ron Weasley, Mr and Mrs. Weasley, and these are Ron's brothers, Fred, George, Percy and this must be Ginny" she said pointing out Ron and the others in turn.

"But you're muggles," Mr. Weasley said. "Please come in, you must join us for a drink."

"Arthur, we need to go to Gringotts first," Molly reminded him. A slightly sheepish looking Mr. Weasley followed his wife to the bank while the others came along with them. After getting their money, and in the case of Grangers exchanging muggle money for wizard money, they split into small groups. Fred and George joined their friend Lee Jordan while Ginny stayed with her parents.

Harry, Ron and Hermione set off together with Sirius who showed them around some of the stores they had never been to before. He even took them to the entrance to Knockturn Alley, telling them they should never go down there alone. While they were there they met Hagrid. After a short discussion Hagrid agreed to accompany them back to Flourish and Blotts. On the way Hagrid told them he had been looking for flesh eating slug repellent. Apparently they were destroying Hagrid's garden at Hogwarts.


	4. Flourish and Blotts

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

Second Time Around: Year 2: Chapter 4: Flourish and Blotts

At 12-30 they met up at Flourish and Blotts where they discovered Gilderoy Lockhart would be signing autographed copies of one of his books. As soon as Sirius saw this he groaned.

"Don't tell me that ***** is signing books here, now?" he said.

The others were surprised to hear Sirius using that kind of language but Harry was smiling. He wasn't the only one with a low opinion of Lockhart.

"Gilderoy Lockhart was a few years ahead of me at Hogwarts. I think he was 6th year when I started. I've never met such an arrogant ***** in my life," he said by way of explanation to all who heard him.

Hermione and the Weasleys looked angry. "How can you say such a thing? Look at all the things he's done," snapped Hermione, thrusting one of Lockhart's books at Sirius.

"If he's done even a tenth of the things he says he's done in those books, I'll run naked down Diagon Alley telling everybody I meet Lockhart's a hero," Sirius replied.

The looks on the faces of those who heard him were indescribable.

"Right, moving on to something different," Harry said, loudly.

Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys joined a long queue comprised, as far as Harry could tell, mostly of witches around Mrs. Weasley's age. Harry hoped to stay out of sight but today was not his lucky day. A photographer jostled Ron aside and Ron complained loudly which drew Lockhart's attention to him. Harry was right next to Ron and Lockhart saw him.

"It cannot be, Harry Potter," Lockhart exclaimed before barging through the crowd and Grabbing Harry's hand. "Big smile, Harry. Together we'll make the front page."

After about a minute Harry was able to get away from Lockhart. As he passed Ginny he dumped the full collection of Lockhart's books into her cauldron. "You can have these, I'll get my own," he said.

"Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page can you, Potter." It was Draco Malfoy, and with him was a man Harry knew to be his father, Lucius.

"Leave him alone," Ginny said, glaring at Malfoy.

"That didn't take long, Potter. You broke up with the Bones girl barely 2 months ago and you already have a new girlfriend," Draco said.

"Come now Draco," a man with Draco said. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

When Draco didn't respond immediately Lucius turned to Harry. "Mr. Potter, I am Lucius Malfoy. I must apologise for my elf's actions in stealing your mail. Perhaps there is some way I can make it up to you?"

"I don't think so, Lucius." Sirius had arrived and was standing next to Harry. Arthur Weasley had arrived, too.

"Sirius. How nice to see you," Lucius said in a voice that make it clear it was anything but a pleasant experience. He then turned to Mr. Weasley. "Arthur Weasley, a pleasure." Clearly he meant it to be anything but.

"Lucius," Mr. Weasley said, icily.

"I do hope the ministry is paying you overtime for all these raids you are carrying out although, judging by this, I'd say not." Lucius had picked Ginny's battered second hand Transfiguration textbook out of her cauldron. Harry was watching closely as Lucius made a small move, briefly hiding the book from view. Harry nodded to himself.

Lucius then turned to Hermione. "Miss Granger, I assume." Hermione barely nodded.

"The people you hang around with, Arthur, disgraceful." Lucius said the last word very quietly but Mr. Weasley heard him.

In an instant Arthur lunged at Lucius. Several stacks of books cascaded to the floor as Molly yelled at Arthur. The twins shouted their encouragement before Hagrid forced his way between them, forcing them apart. "Settle down gents," Hagrid bellowed.

"Keep your book, girl," Lucius said as he shoved Ginny's Transfiguration book back to her. "It's the best your father will ever get you."

"Just a minute, Ginny. Can I see that book, please?" Harry asked, reaching for her textbook.

After opening it Harry said, "Sirius, look at this." Harry pulled a small, black book out of the textbook.

"A diary," Sirius said after opening it. "There's a name in here, T. M. Riddle. Did you see where this diary came from?"

"Mr. Malfoy put it inside Ginny's textbook," Harry said.

"Lucius Malfoy, you're under arrest for possession of a cursed artefact and for attempting to place said artefact in the belongings of a child under 17," Sirius said as he pointed his wand at Mr. Malfoy.

"What is going on here?" Mr. Weasley demanded to know. Quite a few people gathered around Sirius and Lucius, some looking ready to pull out wands. Harry realised the situation could get out of control.

"Kreacher," Harry called.

"Kreacher is here," the elf said upon arrival.

Sirius held up the diary, never taking his eyes off Lucius. "This diary was found in Ginny Weasley's Transfiguration textbook. Lucius Malfoy was seen to put it there. T. M. Riddle is today known as Lord Voldemort. Care to explain yourself, Lucius?" Several people gasped when they heard this.

"I suggest that we take this to the Ministry of Magic, Sirius. There is no need to disturb all these people. I do insist, however, that Mr. Potter accompany us, since he is the one accusing me," Lucius said in an icy tone.

Sirius turned to Harry who nodded. "Kreacher, I would like you to come too," Harry said.

"I should like to come also, seeing as Ginny appears to be the victim here," Mr. Weasley added.

"Agreed. Do you wish anyone to join you Lucius," Sirius asked.

"Draco, come," Mr. Malfoy said.

Lucius, Sirius, Arthur, Harry, Draco and Kreacher left individually, arriving at the MoM in small groups. Once there Sirius led them to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (DMLE) where Sirius informed Madam Bones of the situation.

What followed was a period of question and answer. Mr. Weasley acted on Harry's behalf since Sirius was the arresting officer while Madam Bones adjudicated. Harry knew the evidence was flimsy but he knew of a muggle technique that might help. Fingerprints. Harry found himself having to explain exactly how it worked, fortunately there was no shortage of ink with which he could demonstrate the technique. Lucius objected pointing out that as it was not an approved technique it could not be used and Madam Bones agreed. She did, however ask why he refused to even experiment with it. Lucius said he would not accept anything muggles used without good reason and he could see no good reason to try it now.

After several hours Lucius was released on the wizarding equivalent of bail. The case would be heard at a date to be arranged later. Mr. Weasley took Harry back to the Burrow while Harry sent Kreacher to Grimmauld Place to help Sirius. Once they arrived at the Burrow the others, including Hermione who was staying there until the end of the holidays, asked what had happened. Arthur made it clear that, as it was to be dealt with at a later date, nobody was to talk about it.

Two days later Sirius called Harry via the mirror. "Harry Potter."

"Hello Sirius," Harry said as he took out his mirror.

"Can we talk in private? I don't want anybody to overhear what we are about to discuss."

Harry excused himself from Ron and the others. After walking out to the Weasley's broom shed he addressed Sirius.

"Go ahead. Nobody can overhear us," Harry said.

"Firstly, are you certain Lucius put that diary in Ginny's cauldron?"

"As certain as I can be. I saw him move the textbook so no-one could see what he was doing and his other hand was right there, also, so he could do it quickly."

"Right. That may not be enough to stand up in the Wizengamot but I think it may be enough to do a deal. You know it was the Malfoys' house elf who was stealing your mail, correct?"

"Yes. Why is that important?"

"I was thinking of asking Lucius to free his elf. Most house elves don't want to be free but the Malfoys treat theirs badly and I think the elf may appreciate a change of owner. And I could use an elf to help around Grimmauld Place."

"That sounds like a good idea. Since the diary is a Horcrux freeing the Malfoys' elf would be a fair bonus on top of the main prize."

"I'll discuss this with Madam Bones. I think she will accept the deal, after all these sorts of things happen regularly at the Ministry anyway."

Harry was very concerned to hear this. "It sounds as though the Ministry has a pretty bad corruption problem to me," he said.

"Unfortunately, yes. We really do need to sort this out, don't we?"

"While you're here, I have been trying to focus in on that vision I had of a Horcrux at Gringotts. I keep getting an idea of something strange and French sounding. At the moment it doesn't really make sense but I will keep working on it."

"Strange and French sounding. All French sounds strange to me so I can't help you there," Sirius said, laughing. "Anyway, Harry, I am sending an owl to the Weasleys tomorrow inviting you all to stay here for the last night before school gets back in. it's an easy 20 minute walk from here to Kings Cross so it will mean a far less hectic last day of preparations before you leave and there is something I want to give you, too. I'll tell you about it when you get here."

"Ok, Sirius I'll see you then, bye."

After returning to the house Harry mentioned that they may be going to Sirius' for the last day of the holidays but did not mention anything about Lucius Malfoy, although Mrs. Weasley knew that must have been the reason for the privacy request.

31 August dawned fine but with a threat of rain later in the day. Mr. Weasley insisted on driving the family's old Anglia to London over his wife's objections. Harry knew 9 people getting out of a small car was going to attract attention but decided since Grimmauld Place was a quiet cul-de-sac not too many people would notice.

Once everybody was inside and split into their respective rooms for the night Sirius asked Harry, Fred and George to join him. Ron was unhappy about being left out of the group so Sirius decided he could join them if he promised to keep quiet about what they were doing.

"Fred, George," Sirius said after closing the door. "Thank you for letting me have the map you mentioned. I have made two copies of it now. I will keep the original since I am Padfoot and one of the copies is Harry's since Prongs was his father. You can have the other copy."

As he spoke he pulled out three pieces of parchment, one clearly older than the others. He kept the oldest one and gave the two copies to their respective owners. "The same password will work on all three. For Harry's benefit the password is 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.' Say that while tapping the parchment with your wand."

Sirius demonstrated this on his own copy and everybody watched as a map of Hogwarts appeared before them. A check of the map revealed the castle to be nearly empty. Only 5 figures could be seen; Dumbledore was in his office with Sprout; Flitwick was in the charms classroom while Snape was in the dungeon. Outside near his cabin was Hagrid. As they watched Sprout left Dumbledores' office and headed towards the main entrance.

"Right, now you've seen how it works, Harry always remember to switch it off when you're not using it. That password is 'Mischief managed.'"

As the map went blank Ron asked, "Who are Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs? You only named two of them just now."

"Moony is an old friend of mine more commonly known as Remus Lupin, Wormtail is Peter Pettigrew, the scum who betrayed Harry's parents, murdered 12 muggles and framed me."

**Author's Notes:** Sirius has missed the clue about a strange sounding French name (Lestrange). Harry hoped Sirius would make the connection but he didn't. At least not yet, anyway.

Some text of the events in Flourish and Blotts are paraphrased from **Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Chapter 4: At Flourish and Blotts.**


	5. The Hogwarts Express

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

Second Time Around: Year 2: Chapter 5: The Hogwarts Express

Harry got up early the next morning. After showering and dressing in some of the muggle clothes Susan had chosen for him the previous Christmas he went down to the kitchen. Finding it empty he called Kreacher.

"How may Kreacher help Master this morning?" the elf asked.

"Today I return to Hogwarts for the beginning of the new school year," Harry said. "As of this evening I would like you to work at Hogwarts. In the meantime I would like you to prepare breakfast. Bacon, eggs, toast and tea, please? There are quite a few people here so make plenty."

"Kreacher is happy to do as Master wishes," he said before hurrying off to start breakfast.

Over the next hour everyone else came down. Percy, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny and Hermione were supposed to have packed the night before, the Harry was not surprised that some of them hadn't. In fact, only Hermione and Ginny were ready. After a very quick breakfast Mrs. Weasley sent the rest back to their rooms while Harry and the girls relaxed. Sirius asked if he could speak to Harry alone so they went into another room.

"I have done a deal with Lucius Malfoy," Sirius said. "He will not be charged over planting that diary on Ginny, instead he has agreed to surrender their family's house elf to me."

"So you are now his master?" Harry asked.

"Dobby?" Sirius called.

The elf appeared with a crack." How may Dobby help new Master?"

"Dobby, this is Harry Potter, the person whose mail you were caught stealing. Would you like to explain your actions to us?"

Dobby's eyes were as wide as saucers. "Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts. It is too dangerous."

"Does this have anything to do with a certain diary?" Harry asked. Sirius produced Tom Riddle's diary from a bag.

Dobby was shocked to see it. "How did Master get it?"

"It was confiscated recently," Sirius explained. "Lucius Malfoy tried planting it on Ginny Weasley but he was spotted and arrested. Part of the deal over not charging him was that he surrender you and renounce any claim he or his family have over you."

"Dobby is sorry. Dobby wanted only to protect Harry Potter but now Dobby sees he was wrong to stop Harry Potter receiving his mail. How does Master want Dobby to punish himself?"

"I don't want you to punish yourself, Dobby," Sirius said. "I only want you to apologise to Harry which you have now done."

"Dobby?" Harry said. "I accept your apology. I know you did what you thought was best but really, you didn't need to do anything. I can look after myself and Sirius and many other people would be willing to help me if I asked them to."

"Thank-you Master. Thank-you Harry Potter," Dobby said before Sirius dismissed him.

After Dobby had left the room Sirius turned to Harry. "I thought about what you told me yesterday and it occurred to me that 'strange, French sounding name' could mean Lestrange. My cousin Bellatrix married into the Lestrange family and she is definitely a Death Eater. She is currently in Azkaban. I will look into it and get in touch if I discover anything."

"Oh, good. Thanks for that Sirius, I look forward to hearing from you," Harry replied before he, too, left the room.

Shortly after 10 o'clock Harry, Hermione, Sirius and the Weasleys left Grimmauld Place for walk to Kings Cross. They arrived a little after 10-30 leaving them plenty of time to say their goodbyes and board the train. While there they met up with Neville and his grandmother. After brief introductions Mrs. Longbottom thanked Harry for helping Neville during their first year to which Harry replied Neville might do better with his own wand rather than a second hand one. Neville joined the trio as they set off to find a compartment where they began talking.

"I am looking forward to Defence Against the Dark Arts this year," Hermione said. "Lockhart's so brave. Can you imagine doing some of the things he's done?"

"I can't imagine him doing many of those things," Harry replied. He remembered Hermione was devoted to him even after his incompetence had been revealed last time.

"What do you mean, Harry," Hermione clearly wasn't happy.

"For one thing, I asked Sirius about the Homorphus charm. It is used to force an animagus into human form but it doesn't work on werewolves. And the spell is not as complex as Lockhart makes it out to be, either. Clearly, he is not telling the full truth and, therefore, I question his other claims as well," he explained.

"I agree with Harry on this one, Hermione," Ron added. Neville also nodded in agreement.

"Well, I think he's brilliant," sniffed Hermione.

Harry decided to change topic. "Ron. I think you might do better with a new wand too. I remember what Ollivander told me, 'the wand chooses the wizard,'" he said.

After that the compartment was quiet until Daphne and Tracey looked in. "Hello, Harry. Ron, Neville, Hermione, how are you?" Daphne asked.

"I'm fine. How are you Daphne, Tracey?" replied Harry.

"Good. What do you think of Lockhart? I Think he's great," Daphne said.

"I think he's a ponce," Tracey added, much to Daphne's (and Hermione's) annoyance.

Daphne rolled her eyes. "You would say that," she said.

"I agree with Tracey on this one, although Hermione agrees with Daphne. Ron and Neville also agree with me," Harry said, trying to prevent an argument starting.

"My mother, Daphne's aunt, knew him when she was at Hogwarts. He was a show-off then and I don't think many people in any of the houses liked him," Tracey added.

"Can we talk about something else? Where's the food trolley, I'm starving?" Ron said.

Ron's comment caused laughter amongst those present and Harry was happy. He really didn't want to talk about Lockhart and any change in topic was welcome.

Harry spent the remainder of the trip to Hogwarts trying to steer the conversation away from Lockhart whenever his name was mentioned. In this endeavour he had an ally in Tracey who was clearly just as unimpressed with Lockhart as he was. Indeed, by the end of the journey Harry found himself with Tracey more than any other person. He had to admit Tracey was an attractive girl, olive skinned, dark eyed with collar length brownish blonde hair and almost exactly his height. And she was a very friendly, easy-going person of reasonable intelligence. The more he talked to her, the more he liked her, in fact. Harry began to regret that, once they reached Hogwarts, they would be separated by house lines.

As the train pulled into Hogsmeade station Harry returned to Hermione, Ron and Neville while Tracey joined Daphne and the rest of the Slytherins. Harry approached the carriages carefully, knowing full well he would see the Thestrals and wondering who else would be able to see them. Daphne and Tracey walked past without any hint they had seen them but Hermione was clearly looking at the one pulling their carriage. It appeared as though Neville and Ron could see it too.

"Harry?" Ron asked. "What do you think those funny looking dragon things are?"

"They look weird," Neville added. "All skin and bone with wings."

"Hagrid must know what they are. Let's ask him," Hermione said.

"They're called Thestrals," Harry said. "The only people who can see them are people who've seen death. Ron, Hermione and I saw Quirrell die in June." He turned to Neville, waiting.

"I saw my granddad die couple of years ago," Neville said as he climbed into the carriage, the others following him into it. Harry was relieved he had the perfect excuse for knowing about them.

After settling into the Great Hall they sat through the sorting of the first years. When Luna Lovegood's name was called Harry paid close attention. When she was sorted into Ravenclaw he watched her skip over the table, blonde hair and bottle cork earrings bouncing along. Harry couldn't help sighing. Luna was just as he remembered her. Ginny was, of course, sorted into Gryffindor and she sat at the end of table, looking very happy. She was the second last student to be sorted and was visibly nervous as she had waited for her name to be called.

When it was announced the Professor Lockhart would be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts there was a mix of cheers and groans. Most of the girls cheered and most of the boys groaned although there were several exceptions to both cases. Harry could see there would be some real divisions over the year.

After the feast the students went to their dormatories, the prefects guided the first years while the other students followed along, only listening when they were told the password. Neville groaned when it was announced but Harry reassured him if he stuck with others he would be alright.

At breakfast the following morning Professor McGonagall handed out timetables as usual. Harry noted that each subject was with another house and the houses were the same as last year. This year, they had first period Monday off as well as first period Tuesday while astronomy was midnight Monday and would finish at 1am Tuesday. Defence Against the Dark Arts was Tuesday before lunch and Harry resolved to make it as difficult as possible for Lockhart.

"Looks like we get lots of free time this year," Ron said after examining his timetable.

"And we will need to spend that time studying, won't we?" Hermione added.

Harry smiled. He was quite certain the only people in their year who didn't know Ron and Hermione were in love with each other were Ron and Hermione.

During morning break Harry led the others away from the courtyard. He explained he'd had a vision of a first year who would want Harry to sign a photograph of himself and then Lockhart would arrive, blowing it completely out of proportion. He said he didn't want anything to do with that and would rather stay inside the castle than risk that happening.

That night Harry went to the classroom where he had met Sam and Steven, the two snakes he had helped to bring together last school year but they were not around. He wasn't all that surprised or disappointed but he had hoped they might be there for a chat. Still, the empty room gave him the opportunity to call Sirius privately.

"Sirius Black," he said into the two way mirror.

"Hello, Harry. How was your first day back?" Sirius asked.

"Not too bad. I found out I'm not the only one who thinks Lockhart is an idiot."

"That's not surprising. I daresay anyone who knew him as a pupil would have told their kids what he's like. Have you had a class with him yet?"

"No. I see him Tuesday morning, just before lunch. Sirius, about the diary. Have you arranged for it to be destroyed yet?"

"Not yet. I was going to hold it until you return here for Christmas. All going well we should have the other one from the Lestrange's vault by then. I have been making enquiries into the financial holdings of several prominent Death Eaters under the pretence of maybe arranging some sort of financial compensation for their victims but there is nothing definite yet."

"Ok then. As long as the diary is safe there is no real danger. I have to go now. People may notice my absence if I'm away for too long. I'll call back Saturday evening."

"Right. Tell me what Lockhart's like as a teacher when you see him, Harry, I want to know if he's as bad as I think he'll be. Bye, then," Sirius said.

"Bye, Sirius," Harry said as the mirror went blank.


	6. Lessons With Lockhart

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

Second Time Around: Year 2: Chapter 6: Lessons with Lockhart

The dreaded day arrived. Harry would soon have his first class with Professor Lockhart. When he arrived he was careful to take a seat at the back of the room between Ron and Neville. He noticed Hermione sitting in the front row with Hannah Abbott and Justin Finch- Fletchly, both Hufflepuffs. Justin was, in fact the only boy in the front row, the others were Lavender and Parvati. Also seated in the back row were Susan Bones and Zacharias Smith.

"Good morning students," Lockhart said in a cheery voice. "I thought we might start today's class with a little quiz to see how well you have read my books." With that he handed out a long scroll. The questions were the same as Harry remembered them:

What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favourite colour?

What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?

What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?

And so on, over 3 sides of paper totalling 54 questions, all about himself.

Harry decided to treat the questions like a joke. For Lockhart's favourite colour he wrote 'shocking pink'; for his ambition Harry wrote 'set the world record for the most Valentine's day cards received in any year'; for question 3 Harry wrote: 'still being alive despite being utterly inept at everything.'

Harry carried on in the same vein, pausing only to show Ron and Neville his answers. When all the papers were collected Lockhart announced Hermione had a perfect score she blushed while the boys rolled their eyes. Harry noticed Susan Bones glaring at Lockhart and heard her mutter something that sounded like 'stuck-up ponce.'

Lockhart then proceeded to release a cage full of Cornish pixies without giving them any instruction on how to handle them. When he said the phrase "Peskipiksi Pesternomi" (which did absolutely nothing) one of the pixies grabbed his wand and threw it out the window. He then fled the classroom leaving the few students who hadn't yet managed to escape out the door to deal with them.

"Kreacher, help," Harry called.

"How may, aargh," yelped Kreacher when he arrived, before ducking to avoid a book one of the pixies had thrown at him.

"Give us a hand with the pixies, Kreacher, and can someone catch Neville?" Harry yelled as he tried Petrificus Totalis on the pixies. Eventually, with help from Hermione and Kreacher, he managed to catch them all while Ron caught Neville when he fell from the chandelier, preventing him suffering any serious injury.

With Lockhart nowhere to be found the students returned to their common room. Several said they would complain to McGonagall or Dumbledore at lunch while Harry pulled out his two way mirror and called Sirius.

"What's wrong Harry?" Sirius asked when he replied.

"Lockhart," Harry said the name like a curse. "He gave us the most ridiculous test, all the questions were about him, nothing about Defence skills or strategies. Then he set a cage full of pixies loose and ran away. Neville Longbottom had to go to the hospital wing. Ron took him along because he'd been hurt too while catching Neville."

"Catching Neville?" Sirius sounded shocked.

"Yeah. The pixies hoisted him up the chandelier and left him dangling there. Ron caught him when the chain broke."

"I will personally take this up with Dumbledore and anyone else who'll listen, Harry. I assure you of that," Sirius said in a menacing voice. "Lockhart is clearly not fit to be a teacher. I'll call you back this evening to let you know how it went. I am kind of busy at the moment but I think this is serious enough to warrant a pause in what I'm doing but I should get back to it. Remember, Harry, I want to know about anything out of the ordinary."

Harry took a deep breath before replying. "Thank-you, Sirius. Something needs to be done quickly. The safety of students is at risk as long as he stays here."

Harry had other problems too. Whereas avoiding Lockhart was easy enough outside of class, trying to avoid Colin Creevey, a first year boy who appeared to have a hero worship complex with regard to Harry, was far more difficult. As Ron pointed out Harry had foreseen this happening so he shouldn't be surprised. The first time Harry met Colin was at lunch straight after Lockhart's first class. Harry had finished talking to Sirius when he entered the Great Hall, taking a seat next to Hermione (Ron and Neville not having returned from the hospital wing yet). He had barely sat down before a hyperactive first year sat next to him.

"You're Harry Potter. I'm Colin Creevey," the boy said as soon as he sat down.

Harry glanced at Hermione who appeared both amused and surprised. "Hello Colin?" Harry finally said.

"I am a muggle born. I had no idea all the funny things I could do were real magic. I mean, I didn't know magic was real, I just thought it was a fairy-tale."

"Well, it is real and here we are," Harry said, trying to end the conversation quickly.

"Can I take your picture, just to prove I've met you?" Colin asked.

"No. I don't give out pictures and I don't like publicity."

"Please Harry. One picture, and can you sign it for me?"

"No. excuse me, Colin, its lunch time and I'm hungry."

At this point Ron and Neville arrived. "Who's this?" Ron asked, pointing to Colin.

"Just some first year…" Harry said but Colin jumped in. "I'm Colin Creevey. Harry was going to sign a photo for me."

"No I wasn't," Harry said loudly. Unfortunately too loudly as several other students heard him. They turned to look at Harry.

Harry turned to Colin and spoke quietly, "Colin, I do not sign photographs. Only Lockhart is so vain as to do that. If you want an autographed photo go see him. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to eat my lunch."

Colin moved away, looking disappointed.

"That was rude, Harry," Hermione scolded.

Harry turned to her. "If you want my opinion he was far ruder than I was. All I wanted to do was sit down for lunch and he just barges up and asks for my photo."

"Yes but, all the same, you could have been a bit more polite to him. He's only 11 after all and this is probably the first time he's met a celebrity."

Harry conceded she may have had a point but it did not change his opinion on the matter. The last thing Harry wanted was to be the centre of attention. At least not yet, anyway. Once he had destroyed the remaining Horcruxes it wouldn't matter as much and then he would reconsider. He knew, of course, Colin's heart was in the right place and that he was extremely brave, but this bravery was what had led to Colin's death. At 16 he should not have taken part in the Battle of Hogwarts but he had stayed to fight and had died as a result. Colin Creevey was one of the people Harry had come back in time to save and he intended to make sure he did save him.

The next time they had DADA Lockhart's 'lesson' consisted solely of reading extracts from one of his books. Eventually Lockhart decided to demonstrate a passage from the book. He called on Harry to assist, much to Harry's annoyance. At the end of the class Harry told Lockhart the next time he wanted to demonstrate something he should call for a volunteer. Harry told him he would not take part in any further demonstrations in front of the class. Lockhart appeared disappointed but Harry really didn't care.

On Friday after class Harry, along with Fred and George went to McGonagall's office. Harry knocked and asked if they could have a few minutes to talk about Quidditch.

"As you know, Professor, Wood's a fanatic when it comes to practice," Harry began.

"I have noticed that, yes," Professor McGonagall replied. "It may interest you to know that Professor Dumbledore has implemented new rules regarding training, mainly because of Wood, I might add."

"Oh. May I ask what these new rules are?" Harry asked as Fred and George nodded their agreement.

Professor McGonagall eyed the three boys carefully before saying, "Am I to assume Wood has not passed the information on to the rest of the team? He, along with all the house captains were spoken to on the first day back from the holidays."

"Wood didn't tell us anything," Fred said.

"What was he supposed to have told us?" George asked.

"House teams are allowed a maximum of 4 training sessions each week, and these sessions may not exceed 3 hours," McGonagall said.

"Sounds good to me," Harry said and the twins agreed.

"Thank-you, Professor McGonagall," Fred said as they left for the common room.

Once back the twins spoke to Angelina, Alicia and Katie, telling them what McGonagall had said. Harry, meanwhile, was talking with Ron and Neville. He passed on what they had learnt and began preparing for the regular weekend homework session. Neville wanted to come but Ron was less keen, saying he wanted to think about it more before deciding.

Saturday morning Harry was wakened earlier than he'd wanted by Wood who was saying something about Quidditch practice. He'd told Ron the day before that it would happen saying it was a vision, actually a memory. Three hours later Wood was still explaining the various diagrams he'd prepared when Harry nudged George, who was sitting next to him and pointed to his watch. George nodded before turning back toward Wood who was just finishing his explanation of the last board. "Right, any questions?' Wood asked.

"Yeah," Fred said. "Why couldn't you have told us this yesterday, when we were awake?"

Wood was angry. "Either you lot start taking this seriously or you can go do something else. I only want loyal, reliable players on my team."

"Doing something else sounds like a good idea," Harry said. "We've been here 3 hours already so trainings finished for the day."

"Quite true Harry," said Fred

"Time for us to go do something else," said George.

"See you tomorrow," Katie said as she left the room followed by Alicia and Angelina.

The boys followed the girls out into the sunshine, leaving Wood spluttering angrily after them. "What to do a couple of laps first?" Harry asked.

"Might as well," Fred.

"Seeing as we're already here," George.

They took off. As they finished their first lap George said, "Who's that down there with the camera?"

"Just some first year, Colin, I think his name is," Harry replied.

"He could be a Slytherin spy," Fred said.

"He's in Gryffindor," Harry said, "and, besides the Slytherin team is here in person. Must be their training time now."

Harry could see the Slytherin team marching out onto the pitch so he and the twins headed towards the exit, catching up with Wood who was apparently having a 'discussion' with Flint, the Slytherin captain.

"All yours, Flint," Fred.

"We were just finishing," George.

"Congratulations, Malfoy. You made the team," Harry.

"Well then, Wood. Looks like you are finished after all," Flint said as the rest of the Gryffindor team passed them on their way out. Wood turned and followed his teammates out of the stadium.

As they walked to the castle the twins asked Harry why he appeared so unsurprised by Malfoys presence. Harry told them of a vision he'd had showing Malfoy playing Quidditch. Hermione, Ron and Colin caught up at this point.

"Harry, I got some great pictures of you flying," Colin said as he ran to Harry. "A boy in my dorm told me I can use a potion to make the pictures move. Want me to show you when I've finished?"

"No, but thank-you, Colin, I'm sure they're great pictures and you should send them to your family. They'd probably appreciate them," Harry said before heading over to Ron and Hermione and walking with them. Both seemed quite amused by the 1st year's behaviour.


	7. The First Term

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

Second Time Around: Year 2: Chapter 7: The First Term

That afternoon Harry was in the library as usual doing his homework. Several other second years joined him, all keen to get help with their work. Harry was a little surprised Susan Bones was there he really didn't mind. The truth was he still liked her and hoped she could earn his trust again, although it wouldn't be easy. Hermione still didn't approve of Harry allowing them to copy his work even after Harry pointed out that they would still need to do the background study to understand it properly.

The pattern continued for several weeks. Classes Monday to Friday, Quidditch training Tuesday and Thursday evening, as well as Saturday and Sunday morning, studying in the library Saturday and Sunday afternoons. It was a comfortable routine that allowed Harry plenty of free time, Although Ron's laziness still irked him somewhat. Often Ron would leave things to the last minute and then ask for help long after Harry had finished. Indeed, by the week of Halloween Harry was getting tired of Ron's Attitude. Hermione had already largely given up on him and Harry felt like doing the same.

"Ron," Harry said on the Monday before Halloween. "From now on you can come to the library with me Saturdays and Sundays and I help you with your work then but, at any other time, you're on your own. You've had a whole week to do that Transfigurations assignment and it's due today but you've barely done half of it. That's not good enough."

"I'm doing the best I can," Ron said. "It doesn't matter how good I am everybody just compares me to one or other of my brothers. Between them they've done everything. There's nothing left for me."

"Nobody is comparing you to your brothers except yourself," Harry said. "Ron, you are different to your brothers and that's a good thing. The only advice I can give you is to be yourself."

"How can I be myself when I don't know what that is?"

"That, I cannot help you with," Harry said. "Only you know that."

On Halloween Harry, Ron and Hermione agreed to attend Nearly Headless Nick's 500th death-day party. As they made their way into the dungeon where it was being held they noticed it start to get very cold. Once they arrived they met a number of ghosts they hadn't seen before, including several non-Hogwarts ghosts.

The party did not go as Nick had hoped. Another ghost named Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore aka Sir Properly Decapitated-Podmore turned up and disrupted proceedings while Peeves was his usual disruptive self. The others were surprised Harry already knew Moaning Myrtle and wanted to know how it happened. Harry explained he had met her and asked how she had died. He said Myrtle was the happiest she had ever been when explaining about her death. He also said there was more to the story than that but he didn't want to talk about it as it was a secret although he implied it involved Myrtle spying on boys in the bathroom. Ron and Hermione readily agreed to never mention it again after hearing that.

After they left they headed for the kitchens. Once there Harry asked Kreacher for three servings of leftovers from the feast in the Great Hall. Hermione didn't approve but Ron happily agreed to the idea of food. Harry had, by now, given up on trying to explain to Hermione why house elves behaved the way they did so he let it pass. After eating the trio returned to the Common Room where they relaxed before going to bed.

The week after Halloween Harry's turn came up to role-play another of the characters from Lockhart's books. This time he was to play the role of a werewolf. After Lockhart finished with his story Harry asked a question.

"Professor Lockhart," he began, "You claim you used the Homorphus charm on a werewolf."

"That's right, Harry. A very complex charm it is indeed," Lockhart boasted.

"Actually it's not a complex charm, and it won't work on werewolves, anyway. The Homorphus charm is used to force an animagus into human form. Used on a werewolf it just results in a very angry werewolf."

Lockhart appeared momentarily surprised but quickly covered it with toothy smile. "The basic Homorphus charm will not work but I used a modified version of it. And that version is far more complex."

"You can't vary the curse. It is designed specifically for animagi. The animagi transformation is one that the caster wants to happen, but becoming a werewolf is not voluntary. It's the result of a disease passed on by biting another while transformed into a werewolf."

"I invented the variant used on werewolves, Harry," Lockhart said. "I know it works because I've performed it. You can read about it in my books. Now, no more questions. Homework tonight is to compose a poem about my defeat of the Wagga Wagga werewolf."

"Professor Lockhart. My aunt would be very interested in learning the spell, particularly since it seems to be a cure for Lycanthropy. Can you tell us the incantation and wand movement so I can inform my aunt?" Susan asked.

"I doubt your aunt would be able to learn the spell. Only someone of great skill, such as myself, could be expected to master it," replied Lockhart.

"But my aunt is Madam Bones, head of the DMLE. She is one of the most powerful witches in Britain."

Lockhart was now very much on the defensive. He thought for a few seconds before smiling and saying, "No, Susan. Although your aunt is undoubtedly very skilled I doubt if even she has the specialised skills necessary to cast this spell. Remember to do the homework. An autographed copy of the autobiography to the person whose poem is the best." Before anyone could ask any more questions Lockhart practically ran up the stairs to his office.

As the students left Susan approached Harry. "What do you think of Lockhart, Harry?" she asked.

Harry made sure Hermione couldn't hear him before replying. "I think he's a fraud and a liar, and Sirius agrees with me," he said.

Susan smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. I think he's an arrogant publicity hound. Aunt Amelia told me to carefully examine what he said and to not take anything at face value. And, of course, you're right about the Homorphus charm. It doesn't work on werewolves and Aunt Amelia has never mentioned anything about a variation that does work. See you later Harry."

"Goodbye, Susan," Harry replied before catching up with the others.

"Was she trying to get back together with you again?" Hermione asked.

"No," Harry replied. "Although it turns out we do have a few more things in common. She doesn't like Lockhart, either."

"I think you're both being stupid," Hermione huffed before walking away.

The next month was spent partly in preparation for the Gryffindor v Slytherin Quidditch match, set down for the last Saturday in November. The Saturday before saw Ravenclaw defeat Hufflepuff thanks to a great catch by the new Ravenclaw seeker, Cho Chang but, before that, Hufflepuff had held the lead. The Ravenclaw team was nowhere near as strong as the previous year so the Gryffindors were confident they could win the cup. Wood was, of course, complaining about the restrictions now being placed on training times but Professor McGonagall refused to bend the rules. The rest of the team enjoyed the fact they could not train every day and none of the other houses were complaining either, so Wood was a lone voice on this point.

The day of the match dawned with high humidity and the threat of a thunderstorm later on. Once the game started Harry flew higher than the rest but found himself being closely marked by Draco. Even though there was no sign of the snitch Harry and Draco regularly came into contact as they jockeyed for the better position. Meanwhile the game proceeded around them, Slytherin holding a slight lead for the most part but never by more than three goals.

After more than an hour, making this by far the longest Quidditch match Harry had ever played, and with the score being 170 – 150 to Slytherin, Harry finally saw the snitch. It was behind and below Malfoy so Harry quietly flew past him before suddenly accelerating. Too late, Malfoy realised what was happening and turned in pursuit but Harry caught the snitch while Malfoy was still some distance away securing a 300 – 170 victory for Gryffindor.

That night the Gryffindor common room held its usual party. Harry had called Sirius via the two-way mirror and told him of their victory and of their recent lessons with Lockhart. These lessons were little more than a joke and Harry was happy to tell Sirius that most students no longer held him the respect he was used to but this hadn't affected Lockhart in the slightest.

Sirius told Harry of their Christmas plans. They would be having a quiet Christmas together with only Remus likely to be joining them. Harry agreed it would be good to have a quiet Christmas and he asked if Sirius could get something special as for him as presents to Ron and Neville. When he told Sirius what they were and why he wanted them Sirius said it was a great idea.

Term continued in the same peaceful manner. Harry still spent most of his Saturdays in the library working on assignments and helping his fellow students regardless what house they were in, although usually the only Slytherins there were Tracey and Daphne. Both girls seemed friendly enough although Daphne's attitude was, at times, annoying. She accepted purebloods as her equals but seemed to require half-bloods and muggle-borns to prove their worth. Generally, though, the group worked well together, even helping younger students who asked for assistance. Colin Creevey, however was still a nuisance, regularly asking Harry for help even if he was sitting next to a different student.

"Colin," Harry finally said one day in mid-December, "always ask the person sitting next to you if you need help."

"Sorry, Harry. But you are an expert at everything," Colin replied.

"No I'm not. Hermione is smarter than me. She is the expert here," Harry said.

Colin was, in fact, sitting next to Hermione with Megan Jones sitting on his other side. Megan was doing fairly well and had offered to help him but Colin was interested only in Harry's support at the time. Fortunately she still tried to help even after the Colin had treated her.

Sitting with Harry on this occasion were Ron, who had finally decided he needed to do some work on his assignments, and Lisa Turpin, a blonde Ravenclaw who was enjoying the chance to work alongside students from other houses. All in all, there were a dozen students including two first years (the other being Ginny). Harry and Lisa were talking quietly while Ron was trying to copy Harry's work. Hermione had previously told Ron to do his own work but Harry was less concerned with it and made no attempt to stop him.

As the group broke up Lisa asked Harry if they could go for a walk. Su Li, the other Ravenclaw in the group left for her common room while Hermione herded the other Gryffindors, including Ron, away. Once they were alone Lisa turned to Harry. "I was wondering if you would like to go on a date with me."

Harry didn't reply immediately. Lisa was certainly attractive but he hardly knew her. In the end that fact made up his mind. "I would like to get to know you better before deciding. We've sat together a few times but, really, that's all we've done. We haven't really talked have we?"

"Perhaps a private dinner together, just the two of us, so we can talk?" Lisa asked.

"Ok. It will have to be in the New Year. Christmas holidays are about to start, after all," Harry replied.

With that sorted, Harry and Lisa went back to their respective common rooms.


	8. Christmas Holidays

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

Second Time Around: Year 2: Chapter 8: Christmas Holidays

The Weasleys were to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas. Mr and Mrs. Weasley were going to visit their oldest son Bill in Egypt and would not return until the New Year. Hermione would also be staying while Neville would, as usual, be going home to his Grandmothers'.

On the last day before the holidays began Harry and Ron were playing wizard chess in the common room with Ginny watching their every move.

"Ron, and you too, Ginny, I asked Sirius if you could over for one night during the holidays and he said it was fine by him. He suggested New Year's Eve. Percy, Fred and George are welcome, too as is Hermione if she wants to," Harry said as the game ended in an easy win for Ron (as usual).

"I suppose mum and dad would be ok with that," Ron said. "I'll ask the others to see if they want to and then send Barnsley to mum." Barnsley was Ron's owl, a present from Sirius the previous year.

"Ok. I'll talk to Hermione when I get back from Hagrid's this afternoon. We should both go down to visit him since we haven't done that very often this year."

"Can I come visit Hagrid too?" Ginny asked as the boys got up to leave.

"Sure. Come on, then," Harry replied. Ron agreed and the three of them left together.

Hagrid welcomed them when they arrived.

"I thought you'd forgotten where I live, 'Arry. Been a long time yeh know," Hagrid said.

"Yeah. Sorry, Hagrid. I should have come down more often," Harry replied.

Ron shrugged. "I guess it just slipped my mind," he said.

Hello, Hagrid," Ginny said.

"I see yeh got yeh wish then, Ginny."

Ginny went bright red. "No. Not like that, no," she stammered.

"Not like what?" Ron asked.

Harry sighed. "Ron. How can you have not noticed Ginny is infatuated with me? Even Fred and George have realised that."

"So yeh not goin' out wi' Ginny, then?" Hagrid asked.

"I was talking to Lisa Turpin and she wanted to meet up with me," Harry said. By this stage Ginny looked like a beetroot.

"Lisa Turpin, that blonde Ravenclaw?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded. "I barely know her, though, so we thought we'd meet up after New Years' just to talk and get to know each other."

Hagrid patted Ginny on the back, almost knocking her over. "Ah, well maybe next time, then," he said.

"Hagrid, stop embarrassing me," Ginny said.

"Look. We came out to talk before the holidays start so let's talk about plans. Sirius has said you're all welcome to come over on New Year's Eve. I could ask his if you can come too, Hagrid," Harry said.

"Do yeh think he'd let me come?' Hagrid asked.

"I don't know for sure but I will ask him," Harry replied.

"Thanks, 'Arry. I think I'll stay here, though."

Harry decided to try and find a way of getting Hagrid reinstated but wasn't quite sure how to go about it. He knew Sirius had the diary and that was the key to Hagrid's freedom but was unsure about how to prove this without giving away too much information. It would take some careful planning, Harry now realised.

Harry caught the Hogwarts Express the next day. Neville sat with him for the whole journey while a number of other students dropped by at various times. When they reached Kings Cross Harry found Tonks waiting for him. "Wotcher, Harry," she said when he joined her.

"Hey, Tonks. Where's Sirius?"

"Working late. Some routine auror business, nothing to worry about. We trainee aurors weren't invited so I offered to pick you up and take you to Grimmauld Place." From that Harry realised it must be an office function of some type. He assumed the trainee aurors had a separate function they attended.

"Well, maybe next time then?"

"More likely the one after that. I'm only in my second year of training, after all."

Tonks took Harry's arm and apparated to Grimmauld Place. After Harry dropped his trunk off in his room he returned to the kitchen where Dobby had prepared dinner.

"Master Harry Potter, Dobby is delighted to see you again. Sit here Master Harry and Mistress Tonks is sitting here," Dobby said, pointing each person to their respective chairs before serving dinner.

"Thank-you, Dobby," Tonks said as she sat down.

"So, Dobby, how do you like working for Sirius now?" Harry asked.

"Dobby is happy. Dobby likes it here much more than at Dobby's old masters' house" the elf said.

"I'm pleased to hear that," Harry said.

Harry and Tonks ate in peace until Sirius arrived home an hour or so later. Sirius had obviously had a few fire whiskeys but didn't appear too drunk.

"Hey, Sirius. How was the urgent business you had to finish?" Harry asked.

"Business? What business? We had our end of year celebration, Harry. Of course, trainee aurors weren't invited," Sirius said.

Tonks rolled her eyes. "I suggest you go to bed after eating, Sirius. I think you need to catch up on some sleep."

The next few days were spent preparing for Christmas. Even though it would be a low key affair Sirius still wanted to pull out all the stops. The previous year he had spent Christmas with the Tonks' trying to adjust to being free and, as such, it had been less enjoyable than he would have liked. This year, though, would be different. Christmas would be at Grimmauld Place with Harry and two house elves that were loyal and friendly toward their respective masters. An altogether better proposition. Remus Lupin would be joining them around lunchtime but said he would not be staying. He planned on catching up with a friend he had met recently. He explained that it was a business deal that would give him up to 6 months regular work, something he hadn't had for some time.

Christmas Day itself passed off without a hitch. Harry got presents from all the people he'd bought for as well as one from Susan Bones. This surprised Harry who hadn't thought of getting her anything since they were no longer a couple but Sirius said they could easily fix that. She was probably still interested in him, Sirius explained. Harry decided to get something and give it to her when they returned to school.

Boxing Day found Harry and Sirius discussing Horcruxes. The diary had been examined closely and Sirius had figured out how to use it. Harry told him of a vision he'd had regarding a secret apparently contained in the diary. The secret referred to the Chamber of Secrets. Harry explained that was where he had killed the basilisk and said he felt the diary might be the key to controlling it. He added that this diary might contain the proof that Voldemort himself had opened the chamber last time.

"Do you know who was believed to have opened the chamber last time?" Sirius asked after Harry voiced this belief.

"I believe Hagrid was expelled because it was wrongly thought he was the one."

"It was wrongly thought he was the one."elief.

e chamber last time?" knew Hagrid had been expelled but he wouldn't tell anyone why. So do you think he was framed?"

Harry nodded. "Voldemort framed Hagrid the same way Pettigrew framed you."

"We will need some extra help with this. I will speak to Madam Bones, tell her of our suspicions and ask her to start a special inquiry into Hagrid's expulsion. We will need to pull Dumbledore in on this, unfortunately, but I doubt we have any choice here."

"I hope that for this, at least, Dumbledore can be trusted."

"We'll see," Sirius finished.

"Now, remember back in August I asked about animagus training. Any plans for that yet?" Harry asked.

"I was waiting for you to ask about that. The books are in the drawing room. I think they will be suitable for a beginner like you." Harry could hear the laughter in Sirius' voice.

Harry spent most of the next three days in the drawing room studying the books. Sirius wouldn't let him attempt the transformation yet because it could go seriously wrong but he did allow Harry to experiment with some related advanced transfiguration spells. Attempting to become an animagus was complex. It involved looking into Harry's personality and then comparing that to various animals. From this Harry was able to determine what animal he would likely become and, with this in mind, began to concentrate on that principle. He readily agreed with Sirius that this was something that could wait until the summer holidays, Becoming an animagus was more complicated than he had expected and would clearly require more time than was currently available.

On December 31 the Weasley children arrived for the planned New Years' party. Hermione would not be attending as her family were going away for the holiday and wouldn't be back until a couple of days before term began. Percy, Fred, George and Ginny quickly sorted themselves into their respective rooms but Ron stayed to talk to Harry.

"Harry?" Ron asked. "Why was my present a voucher for an Ollivander's wand?"

"Firstly, your old wand was nearly falling to bits, anyway. You need a decent wand to perform the spells you're learning at Hogwarts. Secondly, a second hand wand will not work as well for you as it did for its original owner because, as Ollivander will tell you, the wand chooses the wizard. You have to win over a wand before it will work properly."

"I suppose it makes sense," Ron said gloomily. "I hate being poor."

Harry had no answer to that so let it pass.

The party lasted till 1am when Sirius decided it was time for the younger ones to go to bed. Percy was allowed to stay up later but even he was in bed by 2am, the same time Sirius called it a night.

A few days later Sirius took Harry to the ministry to meet with Madam Bones. While they were there she contacted Hogwarts and invited Dumbledore to come into the office. They had already agreed there was no point in not informing Dumbledore of their plans since it was likely he'd find out soon enough anyway.

"Good morning, Albus," Madam Bones said when he arrived.

"Madam Bones, a pleasure. May I enquire as to the reason for this invitation?"

"Sirius has been looking into this diary which, as you probably know, was confiscated from Lucius Malfoy back in August."

"Ah, yes. I was curious as to what had happened to it. Have you been able to determine what it is exactly?"

"Yes," Sirius said. "After carefully checking it we discovered a powerful spell on it. Apparently, anyone writing in it falls under a compulsion spell, not dissimilar in many respects to the imperious curse."

"Indeed," Dumbledore sounded surprised by this news.

Sirius nodded. "It seems this diary was designed to force people into performing actions they would not normally do. We checked its age and compared it with Hogwarts records from the same era. This diary proves that Hagrid did not open the Chamber of Secrets, nor was he responsible for Moaning Myrtles' death. It was Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort, who opened the chamber and killed Myrtle."

"I have assessed the evidence and agree whole heartedly with Sirius' assessment," Madam Bones said. "It is my opinion that Rubeus Hagrid's expulsion was invalid and should be overturned. As you are the Headmaster of Hogwarts the final decision is in your hands, of course, so I will leave it for you to determine what course of action you take. I will be very interested in your decision."

"It would give me no greater pleasure than to see Hagrid reinstated. I have always felt the decision to expel him was wrong but I had no evidence with which to overturn it. Now that I have that evidence I shall immediately overturn the decision. Thank-you to you all for your help," Dumbledore said before leaving to return to the castle with the good news.


	9. The Second Term

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

**Author's Note: **Before I begin this chapter I wish to comment on probably the best review I have received to date. Rb2312's review of chapter 8 of this story is well thought out and balanced and contains some good insights. Your assumption is correct, Hermione contacted her parents about spending new years' with Harry and Sirius but they told her to stay at Hogwarts.

I, too, have wondered why Dumbledore never tried to get Hagrid's expulsion overturned. Even assuming he couldn't do anything before being made Headmaster Dumbledore has, none the less, now held that position for well over 20 years and yet still hasn't done anything. Perhaps J K Rowling would care to answer that question?

Second Time Around: Year 2: Chapter 9: The Second Term

The day before Harry was to return to Hogwarts Sirius took him aside. Now that Hagrid had been cleared of any wrongdoing and his expulsion overturned there was no need to keep the diary. Madam Bones had now granted permission for its destruction and had agreed not to enquire too much about how this was to be done. Sirius told Harry she had apparently realised it was a Horcrux and had become very curious about it.

"How much has Madam Bones figured out?" Harry asked. He was both curious and worried by this development.

"Quite a lot, I would say, although I don't think she has realised that there are other Horcruxes. All the same, I wonder if we should tell her the truth."

"Not just yet. I think if you tell her that there is more to the story and that the fewer people who know the truth the better, at least for the moment, then that might give us more time. Tell her that it involves Lord Voldemort and I have reason to suspect he has spies within the Ministry."

"I hope she accepts that. I will say I don't like keeping secrets from her. Madam Bones has been of great help to me since my release and I think she deserves to know exactly what is going on. I will tell her that it was your request that the information is kept confidential; I just hope she accepts it."

Harry, too, was uncomfortable with hiding the truth. He was beginning to realise that he was becoming just like Dumbledore, something he didn't like at all. Harry decided to change topic.

"You know, Sirius, I think we should let Dobby destroy the diary. It was at least in part thanks to him we were able to retrieve it and, in doing so, prove Hagrid was innocent," Harry said.

"Good idea. Dobby," Sirius called.

"Dobby is here master. How may Dobby help?"

"We have decided to offer you the opportunity to take a leading role in stopping Lord Voldemort," Sirius said. "I want you to destroy this diary."

Dobby's tennis ball sized eyes were wide with shock. "Master wants Dobby to destroy the diary?"

"Yes. Take this fang and stab the diary. Do it quickly otherwise it will try to attack you," said Sirius.

Dobby took the fang and looked at the diary, clearly uncertain of what to do.

"Dobby," Sirius said, "I order you to stab the diary."

Dobby drove the fang into the cover. A fountain of ink exploded out of the book, accompanied by a scream. Black smoke billowed up while a tar-like substance burned into plank of wood Sirius had placed it on. Then there was silence. The smoke cleared away and Harry placed the now ruined diary in a bag.

"Thank-you for your help Dobby," Sirius said. "You have done us a great service with your actions here. You have every reason to be proud of what you have done."

"House elves is not supposed to feel proud. We do as our master tells us," Dobby said as he watched Harry and Sirius tidy up their workspace.

"You may go now Dobby. I will take Harry to the station. Please have a light lunch ready for my return. A few sandwiches should suffice," Sirius said before he and Harry headed for the door.

The train ride was uneventful. Harry and Neville returned to the common room where they were met by the Weasleys and Hermione. As soon as they were settled in Ron asked Harry for help with his school work. It turned out he had done next to nothing on any of the assignments.

"You've had the whole holidays to them, Ron. Seriously, it was only about five hours work in total," Harry said.

Hermione agreed entirely with him. "Do them yourself," she said. "They're not that difficult." With that she dragged Harry away to the library to do some independent research with her.

Despite Harry and Hermione refusing to help him, Ron managed to complete the assignments in time for class. Hermione said it showed what he was capable of doing when he put his mind to it; Harry knew Ron had asked Percy for help. Percy had agreed but only if Ron did something for him in return. What this was, Harry really didn't care.

The first weekend after Harry returned to Hogwarts he met with Lisa Turpin. He told her he had arranged private dinner for the two of them in an empty classroom on the 7th floor and that his personal house elf would be serving them. Harry escorted her to the classroom where Kreacher admitted them and pointed to their seats on either side of a small table. The plates, cutlery etc were already there as was a flask of pumpkin juice.

"Um, wow. You really planned this out didn't you?" Lisa said when they were seated. She was wearing jeans, sweater and tennis shoes and possibly felt underdressed in such a formal setting, Harry realised.

"Don't worry about it. I've never been to a formal dinner but this looks about right, though. How you dress isn't important." Harry was dressed in some of the clothes Susan had sorted out for him a year ago but they were still clean and tidy despite their age.

Over the course of their 90 minute dinner Harry and Lisa talked about themselves, what they looked for in others and what they wanted to do with their lives. Although they got on well together both quickly realised they were not a good match. At the end of the evening they agreed to remain friends but not to pursue a relationship. Harry walked Lisa back to the base of the stairs leading to Ravenclaw tower before returning to Gryffindor where Hermione and the Weasleys were waiting.

Later that week Harry was told to go to the Headmaster's office, Dumbledore wished to speak to him. The meeting with Dumbledore was a friendly affair in which the headmaster thanked Harry for helping to prove Hagrid was innocent. He was curious about the diary but Harry said it had been destroyed after being thoroughly examined at the Ministry of Magic. Since this was entirely true Harry felt comfortable telling Dumbledore.

January, February and March passed largely without incident, if you don't count Valentine's Day. On 14 February they arrived in the Great Hall to find Lockhart had decorated it in pink. He then announced he had hired a band of Dwarves to deliver Valentine's Day cards throughout the day. He also thanked those students who had sent him Valentine's Day cards. Hermione, it turned out, was one of those students, much to Ron's disgust.

Two Saturdays before Easter Gryffindor played Hufflepuff at Quidditch. The restrictions in place regarding Quidditch training were working for the players of both teams, although Wood was still complaining about them. Weather conditions were good and Harry enjoyed the game. After a little over half an hour Harry caught the snitch thus giving Gryffindor a comfortable win 260 – 70. The following week Slytherin defeated Ravenclaw by a similar margin. The Quidditch cup was all but in Gryffindor's hands and Harry, along with the rest of the team, hoped Wood might relax a little although none of them really expected he would. On the plus side, they had no more training for the remainder of the term, something most of the team appreciated as it gave them more free time.

Later that evening, as Harry was sitting in the common room trying to ignore Colin's attempts to start a conversation with him, Sirius called via the two way mirror. "Hello Sirius, what's happened," Harry asked in reply.

"Can we talk privately? I have some information for you," Sirius said.

"One moment." Harry went to the classroom where he used to meet his pet snake, Sam. "Ok, go ahead, Sirius."

"Madam Bones has asked to meet you after the beginning of the Easter Holidays. She has discovered something about one of her staff and wants to talk over this matter as well as another issue. She won't tell me what the other issue is but I strongly believe it relates to Voldemort."

"That sounds ok. Where will this meeting take place?"

"Here at 12 Grimmauld Place. I will make the final arrangements tomorrow."

"Do you know what the staff member is thought to have done?"

"No. Madam Bones hasn't told me who it is or what they may have done."

"Well, I guess we'll find out at the meeting then. Not much has happened here recently. It's been nice and quiet."

"That's good to hear. I'll pick you up from King's Cross and we'll talk more then, ok?"

"Sounds good. Bye, Sirius."

"Good bye, Harry," Sirius said as the mirror went blank.

A few days before the end of the term Professor McGonagall gathered the second years and informed them that, starting next year, they would be required to choose additional subjects. She explained there were 5 options and they had to choose a minimum of 2. The subjects were: Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination and Muggle Studies.

"What do you reckon?" Ron asked after they were dismissed. "What subjects should we take?"

"I'm signing up for everything," Hermione said. The others looked at her in surprise.

"Hermione, you are a muggleborn witch. You don't need to take muggle studies," Ron said, sounding astonished.

"I'm not taking divination," Harry said quickly, trying to avoid another argument between his friends.

"Harry, you're a seer. Divination would be perfect for you," Neville said.

"I'm a seer, Trelawney isn't. She relies on guesswork and lucky coincidences, in other words, fortune telling. I think I'll take Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, they would seem to be the most useful subjects. I wonder what Care of Magical Creatures is like?"

"You get to work with all sorts of magical creatures, learning how to take care of them, learning about what they eat and how they react, that sort of thing," Ron replied.

Harry signed on for Arithmancy and Ancient Runes; Ron and Neville both signed for Care of Magical Creatures and Divination and Hermione for everything.

Harry was the only member of his close group to be going home for Easter. As such he shared a compartment with Lillian Moon and Sophie Roper, the two Gryffindor girls he still hadn't spent much time with. Lillian was about average height and a little on the chubby side although definitely not fat. Sophie was taller and thinner than her friend. He, along with everybody else in their house, knew the girls liked each other a lot more than they liked boys but they were friendly enough when he'd asked to join them. They spent most of the journey talking about classes. Harry asked why they didn't join in with the study group in the library Saturday afternoon and they said they liked to be together and have some privacy. Harry accepted their explanation and said if they ever wanted a change they were more than welcome.

Sirius picked Harry up and took him straight home where Dobby had their evening meal ready to go. He told Harry that Madam Bones would be there on Tuesday at 10 o'clock for their meeting. Harry asked what he could expect from the meeting and Sirius told him she had realised the diary was just one of a number of Horcrux and was interested to know as much as possible about it. They decided the time was right to tell her the full story, including the fact that they were hunting Horcruxes and had already destroyed others. Most importantly they agreed to enlist her help if possible in obtaining the Horcrux from the Lestrange's vault.

On Tuesday morning Madam Bones floo'ed to Grimmauld Place and, after casting several charms to ensure there were no eavesdroppers listening in, began their meeting.


	10. Amelia Bones

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

Second Time Around: Year 2: Chapter 10: Amelia Bones

Harry wasn't sure what to expect from Madam Bones' visit. As such, he was somewhat nervous as he sat down with her and Sirius for the beginning of their meeting.

"It's good to see you again, Harry," began Madam Bones.

"Hello Madam Bones," Harry replied.

"There are two reasons for my requesting this meeting," she continued. "Firstly, I have discovered the identity of the person who has been passing information on to Albus Dumbledore. I was very disappointed to discover it was one of our most experienced and valuable aurors, Alastor Moody. As he was less than a year away from retirement I agreed to allow him to end his employment a few months early, and to still receive his full retirement entitlement. So that particular leak has now been plugged."

"I knew Mad-eye was a close friend of Dumbledore's so I guess I shouldn't really be surprised to hear that," Sirius said.

"How did he get the name Mad-eye?" asked Harry.

"He was injured while working as an auror and lost his eye. It was replaced by a magical false eye that gave him special advantages and a very odd appearance. If you meet him you'll see how the nickname came about," Sirius explained.

"Yes," Madam Bones added. "Now, undoubtedly Professor Dumbledore will find someone else to pass him information from within the ministry given enough time but, for the moment at least, he will be unable to monitor our affairs too closely. That leads me onto the second reason for requesting this meeting. I know you have been withholding information about He Who Must Not Be Named but, in spite of that, I have been able to discover a lot of information regarding him and his affairs. I know, for example, that diary was a Horcrux and that it was not the only one."

Harry tried not to react to that information. Sirius, however, was more willing to speak about it.

"You are quite correct, madam. The diary has been destroyed as have the other Horcruxes we have found," he said.

Harry decided it was time to tell the full story, or at least as much as Sirius already knew, anyway.

"There are, I think, 5 Horcruxes. The diary, which Lucius Malfoy tried to plant on Ginny Weasley; a locket, originally owed by Salazar Slytherin, which we found here in this house…"

"You found a Horcrux here?" asked a very surprised Madam Bones.

"My brother found it originally," explained Sirius. "But he was unable to destroy it so he left it here with Kreacher for safe keeping." This wasn't entirely true but it was close enough. It was unlikely Madam Bones would enquire any further into it.

"I see. Carry on, Harry."

"The third one was a tiara, originally owned by Rowena Ravenclaw, which Voldemort hid at Hogwarts. That was the first one I found, by the way. I explored the castle quite extensively when I first started there and found my way into the Room of Requirement. The tiara was in there. The other one we've been able to locate was a ring, which was found under the floorboards of an old tumbledown shack on the outskirts of Little Hangleton. The shack was owned by an old wizarding family named Gaunt. A short distance away was a manor house owned by the Riddle family. Voldemort's real name was Tom Riddle, same as his muggle father, while his mother's surname was Gaunt."

Madam Bones had listened in silence as Harry explained all this. She had nodded a few times indicating she already knew much of what Harry had said but had clearly been surprised by some of the information, particularly that Riddle, aka Voldemort, was a half blood. After Harry had finished she sat silently for a few minutes.

"You say these are the ones you have found. By that I assume there are others you have not yet located?"

"One more, yes. We know where it is but we can't get to it because it's in a vault at Gringotts. There may be others as well but I don't think so. I would guess that, at most, there is one more still to be identified," said Harry.

"Do you know which Gringotts vault this Horcrux is in?" Madam Bones asked.

"My cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange's vault," Sirius replied.

"Am I to assume this was the reason behind your attempt to seize the assets of known Death Eaters back in September?"

"Partly, yes. I do, however, believe the victims of Death Eaters deserve to be compensated for their suffering, particularly those who lost close family members," Sirius said.

Madam Bones seemed somewhat annoyed with Sirius and Harry. "I cannot allow you to enter a Gringotts vault other than your own for any reason. You know the law, Sirius. If you or any other victim of the Death Eaters want compensation you have to the matter directly to the Wizengamot."

"I am aware of that, yes, but Harry and I have been trying to keep this quiet. Just because you caught one spy within the Ministry doesn't mean there are no more. In fact Voldemort himself almost certainly has spies within the Ministry. What I was trying to do was to get hold of this artefact without alerting anyone else to what was going on. And I do feel the victims of the Death Eaters deserve compensation for their losses."

"Madam Bones?" Harry said.

"Yes Harry?" she replied.

"Are you able to help us in locating and destroying this Horcrux? If not, what other help can you offer us, particularly regarding what Professor Dumbledore is doing?"

Madam bones thought about it for a few moments before replying. "There is nothing I can do directly to help with the recovery of this Horcrux, particularly since we do not know what it is. I can help you with Professor Dumbledore, however. The Philosopher's Stone incident last year and the decision to appoint Gilderoy Lockhart to teach this year are both matters of concern. The fact that Dumbledore deliberately put the safety of students at risk by hiding a valuable artefact in a school full of children is a serious matter. The Wizengamot, however, appears unwilling to censure one of their own despite the evidence. I could ask the Board of Governors of Hogwarts to suspend him pending an investigation into this matter along with other matters that have arisen more recently, notably Professor Lockhart's appointment to the DADA role after his questionable teaching methods were brought to the attention of parents and others associated with the school."

"I would rather Dumbledore stays where he is, at least for the moment. We really do need to get rid of Lockhart, however. With him teaching DADA it is likely that most year 5 and 7 students will fail their exam," Harry said.

"I will speak to the Wizarding Examinations Authority informing them of the concerns being expressed by students," Madam Bones said. "In the meantime, I would like you take this scroll, Harry. It is an instant message scroll. Anything you write on it will appear on another scroll which I will keep with me. Susan has one too. That is how she has been contacting me over the last 18 months."

Harry took the scroll and folded carefully before placing it in his pocket. "Thank-you, Madam Bones. About the Horcrux in the Lestrange's vault. I do know what it looks like. I saw it in a vision. It is a small, two handled cup with a badger emblem on it. I believe it was originally Helga Hufflepuff's."

Madam Bones appeared almost shocked as Harry described the cup. "Mr. Potter, do you realise Helga Hufflepuff's cup was reported lost over 40 years ago. The family of its last known owner were unsure if it was lost or had been stolen. They only realised it was missing after its last owner was found dead."

"How did she die?" Sirius asked.

"Apparently, her house elf accidentally poisoned her," replied Madam Bones.

"Do you think the elf may have been framed? We know Voldemort and his followers like framing innocent people to cover their crimes," Sirius asked.

Madam Bones thought about it before replying. "It is possible, yes. But we have no proof."

"We can't do anything about that now, anyway. We need to focus on what we can do," Sirius said.

"Yeah. Madam Bones, I will do what I can about Lockhart and I promise I will keep you up to date with what is going on at Hogwarts. In return I would like you to keep quiet about everything that has happened here. I've told you many things that, before now, only Sirius knew about. I am placing a lot of trust in you and trusting people is not something I do very often."

"Thank-you, Potter. I know all too well that you place trust very highly in any friendships you form, perhaps too highly at times. I assure you nothing that has transpired here will be repeated to anyone outside this room. Your secrets are safe with me."

With that the meeting came to an end.

The remainder of the holiday passed quietly. Harry returned to Hogwarts earlier than most of the other students who had gone home, Sirius apparated him to outside the gates and he walked from there. Kreacher had returned Harry's trunk to the castle earlier in the day so it was an easy walk. Once back in the common room Harry found Ron and Hermione playing wizard chess.

"Welcome Back. Harry, can you help me with my homework?" Ron said the moment Harry sat down.

"Ronald Weasley," Hermione snapped, "why don't you do your own homework for a change?"

"Ron, you've had 2 weeks, and Hermione to help you, and you still haven't finished?" Harry asked.

"She refused, told me to do it myself," Ron said.

Harry groaned. "Saturday, 1pm, library. Make sure you're there, Ron."

"Thanks, Harry," Ron said as Harry went to the dormitory to unpack.

While unpacking, Harry got out the Marauder's Map. He hadn't been using it much but decided tonight would be a good opportunity to wander the castle. From the volume of names on the map he guessed that about a quarter of the students were still on holiday, meaning he would have a good chance of going unnoticed. He studied the map, working out the places he wanted to go and the quickest route between each one. He was about to put the map away when he noticed a large group of students heading towards the side entrance that led to the dock where the boats the first years crossed the lake in were kept. This surprised Harry since this was one of the few areas of the castle, other than the staff's private quarters, which were out-of-bounds to students.

Harry watched as the group stayed close together all the way to the dock. After staying there for about 30 seconds they began walking back down the corridor towards the Entrance Hall. He noticed this time they were somewhat further apart which led him to believe they had been carrying something between them on the way down. As he watched they climbed the main staircase and turned down the corridor that led back towards the base of Ravenclaw tower.

Curious, Harry slipped on his invisibility cloak and hurried down through the common room and towards the main entrance. He then went down the same corridor towards the dock, only removing the cloak when he entered the dock area. At first he saw nothing unusual but when he looked at the water he noticed some items of clothing floating around. He retrieved a tee-shirt that was near the shore and looked at the name tag. His heart sank when he read the name written on it, Luna Lovegood.


	11. The Third Term

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

Second Time Around: Year 2: Chapter 11: The Third Term

Harry looked into water. It appeared as though most of Luna's clothes were floating there. He was deciding whether to start collecting them when he heard someone approaching along the path. He dropped the tee-shirt and donned his cloak before stepping away from the water's edge, wand at the ready. Luna Lovegood herself rounded the nearby corner moments later. Harry noticed she was wearing a cloak and was barefoot.

Luna stooped to pick up the shirt, turning it over in her hands and feeling how wet it was. Harry removed his cloak and Luna turned toward him. "Hello," she said. "You're Harry Potter."

"And you're Luna Lovegood," Harry replied. "Your name was on the shirt."

"I should really get my clothes out of the water," she said, dropping the shirt and removing the cloak before stepping into the water.

"Ah, Luna? You're well…" Harry felt very uncomfortable in the present circumstances.

"I was having a shower. One of the girls told me my clothes were here when I got out. I think I can trust you." Luna had by now picked up a handful of clothes and turned to place them on the dry ground. Feeling a little awkward Harry picked up the tee-shirt he examined earlier and cast a drying spell on it. "What's that you're doing?" asked Luna.

Harry had turned his back towards her but replied over his shoulder. "I'm drying some clothes for you so you can wear them. When you're ready I'll teach you the spell if you don't already know it so then you can dry your u… other clothes," Harry had almost said underwear but changed his mind at the last minute.

"Thank-you, Harry. I would appreciate that." At no point during the time they had been together had Luna shown any embarrassment or, indeed, any real emotion. 'This isn't natural,' Harry thought.

Once Luna had collected all her clothes she, too began drying them. Much to Harry's relief, she had pulled the cloak back on before joining him.

After about 10 minutes Harry asked, "Is that everything?"

"Yes. Everything I collected is dry and quite warm now, Thank-you again, Harry." Luna dressed in some of the newly dried clothes before gathering the rest of them into one bundle, wrapping them in the cloak she had come down in.

"Let me help you with those, Kreacher," Harry said.

The elf appeared with a pop, "How may Kreacher help master?"

"Kreacher, can you take Luna's belongings back to the 1st year girls' dormitory in Ravenclaw tower, please?"

"Kreacher is happy to obey Master Harry Potter's instructions."

"Hello, Kreacher. How are you?" Luna said to Kreacher as she gave him the bundle.

"Kreacher is well and thanks Miss Luna for her courtesy," Kreacher said, bowing to Luna before disapparating.

"Come with me, Luna. We're going to see Professor Flitwick," Harry said after Kreacher had gone.

"I really should get back to the common room. I need to finish some work before classes start back."

Harry shook his head. "No. We are going to see Professor Flitwick. He is your head of house and he needs to know about what has happened. If you don't act now this bullying will only continue and what happened here is already a serious matter."

In fact, they had barely regained the Entrance Hall when they encountered Professor Sprout, head of Hufflepuff house. "Mr Potter, Miss Lovegood. What are you doing down that corridor? You both know it is out-of-bounds to students."

"Professor Sprout, I was helping Luna recover several items of hers that her housemates had taken and dumped in the water by the dock," Harry replied.

Professor Sprout was in shock. "What do you mean? Are you telling me people are stealing Miss Lovegood's belongings and damaging them?"

"Oh, it's not that bad…" Luna started saying but Harry cut her off. "Yes. I was escorting her to Professor Flitwick's office to tell him what is happening."

"Of course," Professor Sprout said. "Come with me, you two. I shall personally see you to his office. I shall summon Professor McGonagall, too. She is the most senior female staff member and should be made aware of the situation."

Professor Sprout led them to the 7th floor, where Flitwick had his office and knocked on the door.

"Good afternoon, Professor Flitwick," Sprout said upon entering. "I have just been made aware of a serious case of bullying concerning Miss Lovegood here. Mr Potter has informed me that several of her housemates have been stealing her belongings. Most recently these were recovered from the water in the dock area."

Harry had never seen Professor Flitwick look as angry as he did right now. It was surprising just how angry such a small, normally cheerful person could become.

"What items were taken and where are they now?" Flitwick in a deathly voice.

"Some of my clothes. Harry summoned a house elf to return them to my dormitory after he helped me dry them out," Luna replied.

"I see," Flitwick replied. Thank-you Mr Potter. I congratulate you for your chivalrous actions. I shall talk to Professor McGonagall about arranging a suitable reward for you. For the moment, please return to your common room or wherever you were before assisting Miss Lovegood. I shall need to speak to you again but, firstly, I need to sort out this matter."

"Goodbye Professors, goodbye Luna," Harry said before leaving.

Over the weekend Harry helped Ron to finish his assignments. Hermione refused to help and, this time, Harry made sure that Ron did the work himself, providing only general guidelines rather than allowing him to copy. As usual the study group was made up of students from all the houses and they all helped each other. There was one new addition to the group, however. Luna Lovegood had decided to join them. From the interactions Luna had with her housemates Professor Flitwick had obviously had words with them. Su Li, in particular, seemed to have taken the younger girl under her wing but the other Ravenclaws were more stand-offish, and seemed to regard Harry with similar caution.

Monday morning during breakfast Professor Dumbledore called for every-ones' attention, an unusual event in itself.

"May I have your attention, please?" he said over the babble of conversation. Nearly everyone in the Hall went quiet.

"A few days ago a very serious incident of bullying was brought to the attention of staff. Let me say now that bullying in any form will not be tolerated at Hogwarts but this incident was serious as it involved the theft and deliberate damaging of another students personal belongings. As you may have noticed on your way in this morning Ravenclaw has lost 50 points from the total they had before the holidays. This is because several 1st year Ravenclaws were caught bullying one of their own. These 5 students have been suspended from all school activities for 1 week, starting today. You may also have noticed Gryffindor have earned an extra 50 points. This is because it was a Gryffindor student who went to the assistance of the Ravenclaw 1st year."

By this time several students were muttering amongst themselves. The Ravenclaws generally looked unhappy, the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins curious and the Gryffindors happy but confused.

"For your information," Dumbledore continued, "Hogwarts runs a three strikes policy for serious offending within the school. Those students who have been suspended have their 1st strike and, if they receive 2 more, they will be expelled. Thank-you for your attention." Dumbledore sat down and the Hall returned to its usual noisy self.

It didn't take long for the students to learn it was Harry who had assisted Luna, the news spread quickly through all 4 houses. Both Harry and Luna had been pressed for details but neither was talking. Harry explained to his friends that the matter was now closed and he had nothing further to say on it. He assumed Luna was just being her usual self, a fact that Ginny later confirmed.

In early May Harry was with Neville reviewing potions when Sirius called via the two-way-mirror.

"Hi, Sirius. What's up?" he asked when he answered the call.

"I was wondering if you've checked that scroll Madam Bones gave you. She has been waiting on your reply for several days."

"Oh, sorry, I completely forgot about that." This was true, Harry hadn't checked it since he got it.

"Right." Sirius did not sound happy. "Are you alone at the moment?"

"Neville's with me. No one else though."

"Alright, this concerns Neville too. Madam Bones would like your help in exposing Lockhart as the fraud we all know he is. Since Neville was actually injured as a result of Lockhart's incompetence he may be able to help too. Write to her via that scroll with your answer. And remember to do it, too."

"I will, Sirius. Thanks for the reminder."

The final Quidditch match for the year (Gryffindor v. Ravenclaw) was held in early June. The previous weekend Slytherin had comfortably defeated Hufflepuff, securing second place for the year in the Quidditch Cup competition and Gryffindor was all but assured of the title but they still wanted to win outright. Early on it became apparent some of the Ravenclaw team were targeting Harry, probably because he had cost them so many points earlier in the year but this attention was to the detriment of their own team as Gryffindor raced out the a 100 – 0 lead in quick time. The Ravenclaw captain, Roger Davies, called a time out and addressed his team sternly, getting their minds back on task. Some of what he said could be overheard by other people and it was not polite language. After a reprimand by Madam Hooch he quietened down and the teams returned to the air but the damage was already done. When Harry caught the snitch ahead of the Ravenclaw seeker, Cho Chang, Gryffindor had recorded a 350 – 30 win, one of the heaviest defeats Ravenclaw had suffered in recent years.

With Quidditch out of the way for the year Harry was able to concentrate solely on his upcoming exams. Having done so well in his first year he knew the pressure would be on to repeat the performance this year. Hermione, of course would be under at least as much pressure to repeat her top-of-the-class performance but at least she was used to it. Saturday study in the library was the usual busy session. Colin Creevey was far less annoying now than he had been. Megan Jones from Hufflepuff seemed to have taken a liking to him and usually worked with him semi-independently of the rest of the group which was a relief for Harry especially as it meant he no longer had Colin interrupting him every 5 minutes.

As the week of exams came around Harry was confident he had done as much study as was reasonable and fair. By the end of the week he was satisfied that he had done the best he could. Hermione, of course, was worried she hadn't done as well as she could but Harry left Ron to try and sort that out. More important to Harry and Neville was that Madam Bones had contacted them the evening after the last exam to say that everything was ready and Lockhart would be exposed as a liar the following Tuesday. All Harry and Neville had to do was ask some questions during that class. The plan was that other students would follow their lead and cause Lockhart to trap himself in a web of lies. All going well, by the end of the week, Lockhart would be out of a job with his reputation in tatters.


	12. The End of the Year

**Author's Note: **This is the last chapter of year 2. As for Lockhart, I got lazy and just decided to get rid of him. It will be a while before year 3 is published. Things are starting to get busy here so I cannot guarantee regular updates over the next few months. **Dragonson**.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor am I attempting to make any personal gain from this story.

Second Time Around: Year 2: Chapter 12: The End of the Year

Tuesday arrived and Harry and Neville had their plans worked out. Harry would ask the first question and Neville, along with anyone else who wanted to, would follow on. All they had to do now was wait for class to begin.

"Well, I must say that I was more than a little disappointed with some of your exams," Lockhart began when everybody had settled into class. "Although most of you passed many of the marks were, to say the least, disappointing. Clearly many of you had read my books to the depth which is required in this class."

"Professor Lockhart," Susan Bones said. "I would like you present you with this gift." She pulled out an unopened bottle of Butterbeer and walked to the front of the class, opening the bottle as she did so. "Drink up, Professor, you've earned it."

Everyone else thought this was strange behaviour, after all Susan had been one of Lockhart's biggest critics, but Harry suspected he knew what was happening. "Hang on a sec, Neville," he said quietly. "Let's see what happens here."

"You think it's part of the plan?" Neville asked quietly.

"I'd say so, yeah," Harry replied.

"Thank-you Miss Bones," Lockhart said opening the bottle taking a mouthful. "I know I'm not supposed to drink while in class but Butterbeer isn't really alcoholic so it should be ok."

"Professor Lockhart?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Harry?"

"Did you really defeat the werewolf you wrote about in your book?"

"No I didn't," Lockhart replied as he drank more from the bottle Susan had given him.

"What?" Hermione sounded shocked.

"Who did defeat that werewolf then?" Neville asked. Harry realised the bottle must have been laced with a truth serum, possibly veritaserum.

"It was some ugly old Armenian Warlock. I can't remember his name." Suddenly Lockhart seemed to realise what was happening. "Miss Bones. What have you done?"

"I'm doing exactly what my aunt told me to do, and it's working better than we expected."

"Yes, well, I'm afraid I cannot allow any of you to leave this room," Lockhart said as he pulled out his wand.

"Expelliarmus," a voice shouted from the corner of the room. Lockhart's wand flew out of his hand and was caught by Madam Bones, who was just lifting a disillusionment charm off herself. Nearby, a man was doing the same thing.

"What is happening?" Lockhart asked.

"You are under arrest for illegally modifying the memories of an Armenian Warlock. Undoubtedly there are other people who have fallen victim to your treachery as well. Williamson, kindly escort Gilderoy out of the room and take him to the Ministry. I assume you have no objections Professor Dumbledore?"

"None at all, Madam," Dumbledore said while removing his own disillusionment charm. Dumbledore was standing by the bottom of the stairs leading to Lockhart's office. "Students, as you no longer have a DADA teacher I shall be supervising your class for the rest of today while all future DADA classes for this year are cancelled. As for your exams I am going to assume that you have all passed and that you all studied to the best of your ability. You shall all receive Outstanding as your final mark."

"What about those of us who got Outstanding anyway," Hermione asked.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Miss Granger, you were the only student in the entire school who got an Outstanding in DADA. You will still be recognised as having been first in your year."

Hermione looked somewhat embarrassed as several of her classmates started laughing. After everybody had settled down, and Lockhart, auror Williamson and Madam Bones had left the room, Dumbledore sat on the teacher's desk and addressed the class. "I haven't taught a class in 23 years. Please excuse me if I make a mistake, although any mistake I do make will be far less severe than the one Professor Lockhart made. I certainly expect more from a Defence teacher than to simply take a drink without first checking to see if it were safe."

Susan put her hand up. "Sir that was only plan "A". We had a plan "B" worked out just in case."

"Indeed. Your aunt informed me that plan "A" as you put it would probably fail. I believe even she was surprised by how easy it was to trick him."

"Most of us already new Lockhart was inept," Harry said, earning a glare from Hermione.

"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione said, "you must have considered him competent if you appointed him in the first place."

"Professor Lockhart was the only applicant for the position. It was either appoint him or have a subject with no teacher available. I could not allow that to happen," Dumbledore replied.

"Considering how little we've learnt this year, I doubt it would have made any difference," Harry muttered to Ron and Neville, both of whom agreed with him.

As it turned out Harry was able to get similar marks to the previous year in all his other subjects. Like last year Harry finished 4th overall in his year. Hermione, of course, finished top of the year again with the same 2 Ravenclaws finishing 2nd and 3rd. Luna Lovegood did very well amongst the first years, achieving a top ten grade while Ginny Weasley was inside the top 1/3 of her year as well.

Gryffindor had already won the Quidditch Cup so the students were happy as they entered the Great Hall for the farewell feast. When Dumbledore confirmed they had won the house cup as well all the Gryffindors cheered. Once they had settled down again Dumbledore made another announcement: Gilderoy Lockhart was to face numerous additional charges. It was now clear that he had done essentially none of the things he claimed to have done in his books. The majority of the students cheered when this was announced also although some were clearly disappointed.

After the feast Harry returned to his dormitory for some last minute packing. Almost the only things he didn't pack, other than the clothes he would wear tomorrow, were the Marauder's map and his invisibility cloak.

After activating the map and donning the cloak he slipped out of the common room. The first place he visited was the classroom where he used to meet with his pet snake Sam. He hadn't seen Sam all year, nor had he seen Steven, her mate and tonight was no different. It seemed the snakes had all left the castle and Harry couldn't help but feel sad. Sam had been a good friend and was largely responsible for Sirius being free. She had bitten Peter Pettigrew early in Harry's first year at Hogwarts, an event that led to Pettigrew's arrest and Sirius being cleared of all charges.

After leaving the room Harry went to a statue he knew concealed the entrance to one of the secret tunnels out of the castle. After making sure no-one was nearby he entered the tunnel, following it all the way to the end. There he practiced advanced magic including apparating to the street outside 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging and back again. Everything there was its normal, boring self so he decided not to do anything, just to enjoy the freedom being able to apparate gave him.

Lastly Harry visited the Room of Requirement. He chose to enter his own secret storeroom first, checking that all 4 destroyed Horcruxes were still there. Once satisfied, Harry stepped out and re-entered the general storeroom where he had originally found the tiara. This time he was looking for an advanced potions book which would give an advantage the following year. While there he got books on basic Runes and Arithmancy as well. Although all three books had seen better days they fulfilled Harry's needs. Finally he returned to the common room and went to bed.

On the train ride home Harry shared a compartment with Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Neville and Luna. Neville was sitting between the two younger girls and appeared to get along well with both, Ginny especially seemed to like Neville while Luna was her usual amusing self. Harry was pleased to see his friends accept Luna for who she was rather than treat her differently because she didn't conform to their own standards. All in all, it had been a good year and, with any luck, next year would be even better.

Chapter 12.5 Dumbledore

It had not been a great year for Albus Dumbledore. To start off with, the Flamels had decided to take back the Philosopher's Stone. They were unhappy that he had used it to try and lure Harry Potter into becoming a hero. Even though this was not what he'd had in mind it is what Sirius had believed and his opinion had swayed the Flamels into changing their minds.

The Ministry of Magic had then held an enquiry into Dumbledore's management of Hogwarts as well as into several other matters. Along the way he had learnt from Mad Eye Moody, a close friend of his in the auror department, that Harry was looking into his Gringotts account and that Sirius was helping him. Dumbledore then decided it was time to step back and voluntarily gave up control of Harry's finances. Since Harry wanted Sirius to have control the obvious thing to do was give the job to Sirius. With any luck that would forestall any further investigation, although he had done nothing wrong with respect to Harry's money anyway. Eventually, the enquiry was put on hold but Dumbledore knew he would need to be more careful in the future.

The DADA position was once again proving problematic. Word had spread quickly that the last teacher to hold this position had died while in the castle itself and this had put off all but one applicant. That one applicant was Gilderoy Lockhart, a man Dumbledore knew to be completely unsuitable for the position. But, as the only candidate, he had been left with no choice but to appoint him. Hoping to prevent any further action by the Ministry Dumbledore had personally gone to the Wizarding Examination Authority (WEA) and explained to them why this had happened. Luckily they had accepted his explanation and there would be no further action over it.

Unfortunately, it took only 3 days for Lockhart to do something that resulted in a full scale enquiry into both Lockhart's and Dumbledore's competence. Even worse, the fact that 2 students ended up needing medical treatment very nearly resulted in both himself and Lockhart being suspended. The Ministry and the WEA only ended their investigation when Dumbledore told Lockhart he was forbidden to bring any creatures or objects into class and to restrict himself solely to book related study in the future.

Finally, things began to settle down with only the usual incidents that happened every year. This continued until after Christmas when Madam Bones, head of the DMLE, contacted him saying they had now uncovered evidence that Rubeus Hagrid had been wrongly expelled. She provided a summary of the evidence, including the fact that a diary had been recovered and, after thorough analysis, it had been determined that someone else had opened the Chamber of Secrets and had been responsible for the death of a student. Dumbledore immediately reinstated Hagrid and tried to obtain the diary only to be told it had been destroyed to prevent it falling into the wrong hands. Dumbledore later asked Harry about it but was told only what he already knew; that Harry had seen Lucius Malfoy place the diary in Ginny Weasley's cauldron and that, after research by Ministry, they diary had been destroyed.

Nothing else happened until just before Easter when Mad-Eye Moody was suspended from the auror department. Madam Bones had discovered it was Moody who had been passing information onto Dumbledore from within the Ministry. Luckily for Moody has previous good service to the Ministry put him in good stead and, instead of dismissal, he had been offered early retirement on full entitlement. This did, however, leave Dumbledore needing to find another source of information from inside the Ministry.

Only a few days later, during the Easter holiday, Professor Flitwick informed him of a very serious case of bullying that had occurred earlier that day. A 1st year, Luna Lovegood, had been having a shower when several of her dorm mates had stolen her clothes and thrown them into the lake. Flitwick had requested Dumbledore countersign the order of suspension that he had imposed on the students. What had surprised Dumbledore the most was that it had been Harry Potter who had gone to Luna's assistance. He hadn't realised Harry even knew her but then he realised Harry may have simply been in the right place at the right time. He knew it was in Harry's nature to help people whenever he could so it seemed likely this is what had happened.

In early June Madam Bones had contacted him again about Lockhart. They had uncovered evidence of 'Witness Tampering' by illegal use of memory charms involving Lockhart and she requested his assistance in laying a trap for him. Dumbledore immediately agreed to the request. In fact, it had proved remarkably easy to trap Lockhart. The first plan outlined to him was so obvious Dumbledore seriously doubted it would work. He had, therefore, been very surprised that it had worked perfectly. Lockhart openly confessed to what he had done and was immediately escorted from the castle and placed under arrest. The WEA agreed that all students be credited with a pass in this subject regardless of their actual mark so all Dumbledore needed to do now was find a new DADA teacher for next year.


End file.
